Masters of Nen
by MariNisharo
Summary: Kurapika calls Gon, Killua and Leorio to meet with him. The trail of the Troupe leads to a young woman that may have information on the Spiders. To reach her, the four must go through a series of trials, learning how to better control their Nen on the way. When they find out what she knows, the four find themselves in a bit of trouble concerning the troupe. (On Hold but Queued)
1. Urgent News

**A/N: I've rated this story as M for language,** **suggestive themes, later perhaps sexual themes, and violence (possibly extreme).**

 **Extended Summary: Kurapika calls Gon, Killua and Leorio to meet with him. The trail of the Phantom Troupe leads to a young woman that may have information on the Spiders. To reach her, the four must go through a series of trials, learning how to better control their Nen on the way.**

 **What happens when a certain blonde with green eyes and a passion for electronics gets involved? Which side will the master choose? More importantly, which proclamation of feeling will she be happiest with?**

 **You think all of that is a lot? That is just the tip of the iceberg! Want to see how far this rabbit hole goes? I'll tell you that you will be surprised to see what I have in store for you.**

 **Please note that there are spoilers.** **The story takes place five years after the debacle at YorkNew City in which Gon and Killua do not make it into the game, Greed Island. Leorio goes on to become a doctor and Kurapika has only found a few of the Scarlet Eyes he has been searching for. The Phantom Troupe is a big part of the story, but do not appear until quite late into the story. This takes place where the members of the Troupe still alive are Phinks, Feitan, Franklin, Machi, Bonolenov, Nobunaga, Shalnark, Shisuku and Kortopi. Chrollo may appear later and has not been exorcised of Kurapika's Nen.**

 **This chapter is quite short, but I am going to try to make them longer without exceeding seven thousand words per chapter (hopefully). I have done my best to read through and correct spelling and grammar. I don't usually have anyone to read my stories before I post them so there may still be a few small errors. I have done my best to keep the characters from being OOC, but it is a bit difficult since the story takes place five years later. I have done my best to keep my characters from being Mary-Sue like. They seem like such in the beginning of the story, but trust me, they each have plenty of aggravating flaws.**

 **I hope you enjoy it.**

 **(Disclaimer): Hunter X Hunter does not belong to me. The only things that belong to me are Original characters and Original plots.**

Urgent News

"Hurry up Leorio!" Gon shouts as he runs ahead to the hotel with Killua. Gon wants to hurry through the crowded streets so he could once again see his great friend Kurapika. He races Killua to the hotel while Leorio takes his sweet time. Gon had been awaiting this meeting between his friends for a while now; five years they had been separated for the most part. Killua and Gon had been sticking together since their promise was made under the stars on Whale Island.

Things did not go quite so well the last time they were meant to meet up. September first at Yorknew City to be exact. After a series of fiascos that Gon and friends do not wish to think about again, they had once again gone their own ways to further their lives as Hunters. Gon and Killua were turned away from their chances of entering the game, Greed Island, and hoped to train until they were deemed worthy enough. In the time they had been split up, Killua had procured his Hunters License. Now that they all had their licenses, they had access to parts of the world they otherwise could not go.

Gon reaches the steps before Killua; "I win! That is two wins in a row!" Gon yells as he bounces around in front of the hotel.

"You only won because I let you." Killua playfully smirks.

"Nice try Killua. If that really is the case then I will challenge you to a rematch soon." Gon turns away and walks into the hotel lobby. "Oh wow!" Gon looks around the lobby in awe. "This place is amazing!" He practically yells.

"Gon?" He looks to where the voice came from and sure enough, it was Kurapika. Gon runs to meet Kurapika and embraces him in a crushing hug.

"Gon, please. I cannot breathe." He squeaks out. Gon lets go but still looks just as excited. Killua and Leorio soon join the two and make small conversation.

Leorio soon became somewhat serious, "Kurapika, why did you call us here?" Gon and Killua stop their conversation to pay attention to the Kurta. "Not here," he whispers, "let's talk in the room." Kurapika leads his friends to the sixth floor where his ridiculously luxurious hotel suite is located. He swipes the room key and opens the door only to hear a similar commotion of awe as before in the lobby.

"Please take a seat. Make yourselves at home. I'll bring some drinks." Kurapika walks into the next room briefly and comes back with some sweet tea.

"Alright Kurapika, why are we here?" Leorio says rather bluntly. Gon quickly adds, "Not that we mind seeing you if that was what you called us for!" Kurapika has a small snicker and sits down sipping his tea. "Yes, as nice as it is to have a meeting to just hang as friends, there is something rather pressing that I have called you here to discuss." Kurapika sets his tea down.

"While tracking the Phantom Troupe, I had come across some rather unique information." Kurapika sighs but begins his lengthy story, "I had accidently bumped into a frazzled looking hunter. He and I exchanged some information over a small meal in a nearby restaurant. He had also been tailing the Phantom Troupe and was happy to share the information with me, for a price." Kurapika folds his arms and looks slightly displeased for a brief moment. "What did he tell you?" Gon interrupts. "He said, 'I have been very close to fighting with them many times over the years. I had never been able to engage them but I had done a rather good job to follow. One time I had seen someone engage them and survive.' The hunter looked almost horrified by the experience."

"He finished telling me what he saw, 'I was walking through a nearly abandoned town with a few members in my sight. Out of nowhere there were a couple of small flashes, like firecrackers that had exploded at their feet. I had no idea what had happened until I saw a young girl jump down in front of them.' I was almost in shock as well: a young girl attempting to attack them. I had figured she was perhaps crazy or insane. 'She threw something at their feet again and then disappeared. I had sensed her aura a few streets away and gone to see what she was doing. She was just some random trickster who thought it would be funny to throw some sort of little explosive at them.'"

"Later the Hunter told me what he learned about the girl. She was bold and fast. He had asked around the town about her and was only told little bits of information. Apparently he thought he was discreet when he asked, but in reality…" Kurapika trails off as he looked at the ground. "The Hunter removed his coat to show four long, deep scars. She had taught him a lesson to not be so nosy. He was in hysterics at this point trying to explain the dangerous nature. He did say something that caught my attention. She had been playing around in the trickster like ways but had also targeted the Phantom Troupe each time they entered the town. Which I had realized, she most likely had lots of information on them."

Kurapika began to replay what the old Hunter told him. The girl was young when she showed up on his radar. She was perhaps fourteen when she slashed him. She had since taken to calling herself a master of Nen and lived quite far from when he originally met her. Killua interrupts Kurapika's thoughts, "Does this mean that you want us to help you find her?" he asks quite indifferently. "Yes," Kurapika sighs.

"Well then I'm in!" Gon announces, "If she really is a Master of Nen, I think I want to meet her." He turns towards Killua, "You are coming with aren't you?" The young ex-assassin sighs and then nods. All three look towards Leorio. "Fine. I'm in as well," Leorio says reluctantly. _I better make some money if this is all going to be worth the time I am missing on studying._

"We leave as soon as possible. I have learned of the town she has been rumored to frequent." Kurapika grabs his bag and weapons and then opens the door. Gon, Killua and Leorio follow quickly behind him and get on the soonest flight to the town which this Master of Nen was sighted.

* * *

Gon and Killua spend the entire time pestering the other passengers on the flight along with tossing around packages of free snacks to keep themselves occupied. Kurapika and Leorio participate in some small talk about how life was for them since they had been separated. "My studies are going well," Leorio began, "They are expensive though. The world is build around money. The rich have it in their favor, I'm certain of that." Kurapika listens for a while until Leorio begins another rant about how it was no fair and chooses to instead look out the window and enjoy the scenery of the land around them.

Gon and Killua were very interested in furthering their abilities in Nen so that perhaps they could be worthy opponents of anyone who wishes to challenge them. "I wonder what she looks like," Gon thought aloud, "I bet she is really something if she can just go around playing jokes on Spiders." He looks out the window and into the clouds that meander by. "Where was she last seen, Kurapika?"

The blonde looks deep in thought. "So far, what I have found online is that she has been participating in fights at Heaven's Arena. I searched for a young Nen master and what came up was a title from Heaven's Arena. Apparently she uses it as a sort of stage name and from what I have seen, she is at stage 150. If we are lucky, she will still be there when we arrive." Kurapika begins to delve into his thoughts again. _I hope she will still be there. She advanced to where she is in only a day. I do not even believe we will get to confront her._

"Well at any rate, if we won't be able to talk to her, we can just follow her back to where she lives." Leorio sighs and looks at them like they are not really looking at the big picture. "Gon, Killua, you could track her should it come down to it right?" Gon jumps up at the thought of tracking someone, "That would be so much fun! Don't you think so Killua?" The ex-assassin shrugs his shoulders.

The four friends make themselves busy while waiting for the flight to be over.


	2. A Knockout and Boat Ride

**A/N: I decided to post two chapters today, the day I started to post my story online. I felt that the first chapter was really short and it would not be as interesting unless there was a bit more. So h** **ere is bit of a longer chapter for you. Hope you enjoy it. Have any thoughts and concerns? Review or send me a PM.**

 **(Disclaimer): Hunter X Hunter does not belong to be; however, my original characters and original plots do.**

A Knockout and Boat Ride

"She seems to just be toying with her opponent! This could end badly for him!" The announcer yells into the microphone. "He tries to strike back but is knocked right into the ground! And a clean hit with knockdown! This brings her score to twelve! Just like each of her fights, her score stands high while her opponent has zero! Soon see her debut fight in the 200's. Will she make it against this year's newbie crushers? Buy tickets now! Cocco signing off! Goodnight everyone!" Cocco turns off the microphone and leans over to watch the Master of Nen return to wherever she first appeared from.

The Master of Nen has on a mask for the duration of the fight. She can't help but think of all the fights she has been present for that have included the Master of Nen. _Each fight she wears that mask. It is beautifully crafted and is so cute._ Cocco thinks of the detail from the mask that time she met face to face with the young girl. It was large silver mask that resembles a cat. The mask had regal silver fur with white accents. The mask covered from her top lip all the way up to her hairline. The beautifully etched swirls and jewels around the eyes sparkled each time the light struck them.

 _The most beautiful mask I have seen in a very long time. Perhaps one day I will get to ask her where she got it._ The Master of Nen used it to define herself. She wore a black full-body training suit with black boots. Her long black hair sleek and shiny had silver tips that matched her mask almost exactly. Her eyes were a rarity as well. She has grey eyes that sparkle in the night sky as if the stars themselves were captured within them. Cocco was happy to meet the star of the most recent fights and wishes that she would again get to see her.

She walks towards the lobby on the 200's floor to chat with the receptionist that is usually there around this time. Cocco likes to say they are friends but in reality they are not great friends. "Did you get a chance to see the last fight?" the woman shakes her head, "No, I heard it was really interesting though." The two women chat for a few moments before they both feel a cold presence enter the room. Cocco looks around and then notices a black clothed figure walk towards them. She begins to worry until she notices the silver cat mask. The light glinting off the jewels and giving a silky-like shine to the fur that illuminates her figure as she walks coolly to the counter.

"Ah, Master of Nen. What can I help you with?" the woman behind the counter is gleaming with joy as she takes in those beautiful grey eyes. The Master of Nen hands her a paper. "Oh, yes indeed. Here is your room key!" She hands over the key. The mysterious fighter nods as a sort of 'thanks' and heads towards her room. She stops once she passes Cocco. She turns around to meet eyes with the announcer. They stand there in the same spot, eyes locked. "Thank you," was all the Master of Nen said, but to Cocco, it was amazing to be recognized. _I must have done such a good job announcing to get appreciation from the fighter herself._ Those eyes had held her in place, should she have wanted to move, she would certainly not be able to.

Cocco looks at the other woman with surprise written all over her own face. "She thanked me." The other woman has jealous look about her. "You are the first person she has spoken to since she arrived here. Very lucky," she said.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" Cocco heard behind her. She turned around to be greeted by a young boy with black hair, another young boy with white hair, a beautiful blonde and a tall, dark-haired man. _You surely look familiar._ "What may I help you with sir?" She tried to sound indifferent despite almost leaping for joy moments ago. "We are looking for someone, I was wondering if you knew her. She is called 'The Master of Nen', have you heard of her?" the young boy asked excitedly. _Would she be upset with me if I directed them towards her room? She seemed to like signing those autographs the other day… but these people don't look like crazy fans…what should I do?_ She decides to tell them. "She went to her room. She was here moments ago and collected her room key as she has just moved up to this level after the most recent fight."

Cocco leads the four guys to where the Master of Nen is staying. "That is her room, please be careful, she may be a bit jumpy." Cocco then takes her leave. _Odd bunch of boys, I could have sworn I knew them from somewhere…I'll have to ask if I see them again._

* * *

"I can't believe we missed her fight!" Gon whines. He walks over to the elevator and presses the 'up' button. "We would have been here but 'someone' wanted to race here and got lost," Killua chides. They all look a little disappointed. Gon presses the 200's floor button and the elevator makes its moderately fast ascent.

Gon walks over to the front desk. Gon remembers the time he and Killua first tried to make their way to the desk only to be stopped by the psychotic clown. He makes his way around the corner and sees the announcer Cocco talking to the woman at the front desk. He walks over and tries to get her attention: "Excuse me ma'am?" She turns around and smiles, "What may I help you with sir?" she says sweetly. "We are looking for someone, I was wondering if you knew her. She is called 'The Master of Nen', have you heard of her?" Gon questions excitedly.

"She went to her room. She was here moments ago and collected her room key as she has just moved up to this level after the most recent fight," She beams. Gon turns to his friends with a large smile plastered on his face. Killua can't help but smile at his friend and soon even both Leorio and Kurapika are smiling. Gon takes note of how contagious his smile is. "That is her room, please be careful, she may be a bit jumpy." Cocco requests. She then goes back to the lobby most likely to continue talking with the receptionist.

"Well this is it!" Gon excitedly exclaims. Kurapika steps forward and knocks on the door. There is silence for a brief moment. "Maybe you should knock again?" Leorio suggests. Kurapika reaches out to knock on the door when a voice comes from inside, "I'm coming, I'm coming!" Gon smiles again. The door opens to reveal a tall, beautiful lady in a lovely pink dress. She had light blue hair that is lighter on the tips. She has gorgeous eyes that are the same color as her hair. She smiles so brightly and has the happiest demeanor. "How may I help you lovely gentleman?" She beams, as her smile gets brighter.

"We are looking for the Master of Nen. Would that be you?" Leorio speaks first. The blue haired girl just giggles a little and invites them inside to sit down. "Let me make a quick phone call. I'll be right back," She turns and leaves the room. Leorio makes himself comfortable on the couch next to Kurapika. Gon and Killua go to look outside the window and point out people wearing funny outfits or just generally weird people who happen to pass by. How they could see the people from the 200th floor, one would never know.

The blue haired girl leans into the room holding a phone to her ear, "Autographs?" she smiles brightly. "Business," Kurapika replies. "Business," she repeats into the phone and then disappears back into the other room talking quietly. The four can hear her giggle every so often from the other room.

The girl comes back into the room smiling. She sits down and clears her throat, "I am not her." Everyone looks down and sighs. "However," she picks up everyone's moods, "I do know her and this is her room." Killua chimes in, "Well if she is not here, where is she?" The girl looks nervous for a second and her smile fades slightly. "Well…" she begins, "I was instructed not to tell you. I was only to tell you that she has returned to her home. Something about not needing to bother with this game of easily winning."

Killua who is now noticeably absent from this leans in from the room opposite the one the blue haired girl had been in. "You have videogames and sweets," he says with a longing to his voice. "Help yourself!" She says and laughs as both the younger boys run to her room. "Leorio! Come play with us!" both the boys yell from the other room. He sighs and leaves to go join the boys.

"My name is Koharu," She looks at the blonde opposite her sitting on the couch. "And if I had to guess, which I'm not, you would be Kurapika." The blonde looks slightly disturbed and eyes Koharu very warily. "Please don't look so surprised. I can't help it," She says apologetically. "What do you want with 'Master of Nen'," She puts emphasis on the title and then laughs a little. "She has valuable information. I have come for the information. Gon and Killua want to improve their knowledge of Nen and Leorio… well he's just here for the ride."

Koharu ponders whether she should help them or not. _I could help them. Kurapika is quite cute; it would not be too bad to have to take them to where_ She _is staying. However… if she does not think it is a good idea then she will surely have my head for it. Or at least not give me the present she got me. Well if she withholds my present then I'll make that my fee for bringing them! Yes that's it! I'll have them find me something beautiful after I bring them there!_

"I'll bring you to her," Koharu begins to say as the blonde's face lights up, "for a price," she continues as she receives a glare. "You can think it over if you want. I'll be here for the night. I leave tomorrow whenever I feel bored of this room. "Please take us with you. We can leave whenever you are ready," Kurapika says admitting defeat. "How much jenny do you want?" Koharu laughs, "I don't want jenny!" she laughs some more, "I require something beautiful. You will find me something after you speak with my friend." The blonde nods.

Koharu gets up and goes to the kitchen pulling out her favorite drink: blueberry soda. She brings one for Kurapika as well. She hands it to him and then turns on the TV. She is greeted with the crazy antics of adult cartoons. She watches while Kurapika reads a book. Gon, Killua and Leorio soon join them. Soon all are laughing at the television. The television was now on a funny comedy show with a bad host. It was all still funny despite him always returning to gay jokes.

After a while of watching TV Koharu goes to her room and settles down for the night. Gon and Killua sleep on the couch while Kurapika sleeps in the lazy boy armchair. Leorio, being the last one to fall asleep has to sleep on the uncomfortable couch. Gon was snoring a lot during the night, which bothered the ex-assassin. His training gave him the ability to sleep yet be aware of his surroundings. The snoring kept him from reaching a comfortable sleep.

The curtains were drawn shut and the room was dark as if it were still night. Koharu pads lightly from her room to the kitchen. She turns on the dim light over the stove so not to wake anyone because that would be very rude. She takes out a small pan, some butter and a few eggs. She turns on the stove and puts the eggs in the pan. She stirs them until they are fully cooked scrambled eggs. She sets them on a plate and turns around to walk to the table.

"AHHH!" she yells as she drops her plate. Killua stood behind her as she was cooking and practically scared the daylights out of her. It all happened so quickly. Her food was saved though. Killua is fast. He hands it to her. "I was trained to be aware of my surroundings at all times. You have managed to walk past me, turn on a light and cook eggs without me noticing," The ex-assassin seems confused and amazed at the same time. He then seems doubtful of himself. "To be fair… I was concealing my presence. The Master is even greater than myself in the uses of Nen. Don't look so disappointed with yourself, young assassin," she takes the plate of eggs from him and walks over to the dining table.

"You're welcome to share if you want some," she calls over from the table. Killua grabs a fork and joins her. The two sit in the dim light of the kitchen sharing a plate of eggs while they wait for the others to get up. After they finish the eggs, Koharu puts the dirty dishes in the sink and walks into the other room briefly. She sits back at the table with Killua and hands him a large rabbit made of solid chocolate. "Don't tell 'The Master', I took that from her room." She says quietly as she pulls out small packages of Snickers and Milky Way and quietly enjoys them.

* * *

After a few hours of letting everyone sleep in, allowing them all to miss out on chocolate and whispered jokes, Killua and Koharu open the curtains. The trio of sleepy boys collectively groans and complains. "I'm ready to go. Let's go get our training on!" She exclaims and throws her hands up in the air. Slowly but surely everyone is awake and heading for the door.

"You guys are in luck," Koharu begins, "Once a year, there is a boat that goes straight to her island," she is about to explain the 'tour boat' when she is interrupted by Leorio. "She owns her own island?" He and the other three are gawking at her and then looking among themselves as if they are incredibly surprised. "Oh, had I forgotten to tell you? My bad." She walks ahead of them down the street. She skips once she sees the bus station and waits patiently for them to catch up to her.

After a two-hour bus ride to the coast, the five hunters step foot onto the dock that will lead four of them to greatness. "Oh, as I was saying earlier. Once a year, there is a group who sail to her island with a bunch of tourists and students. The tourists go to enjoy the cove and the island itself. The students go there to learn more about Nen. Now I can't tell you guys too much, that is supposed to be the guide's job. I can tell you that it will take about three days to get there." There was some groaning about the time even though Koharu said it so happily.

"We could have been there sooner, but She took our ride home… This boat goes slowly, but she travels the way of wings. I shouldn't divulge too much… She would be quite mad. The boat leaves in a few hours. Usually this boat is packed, and I usually would not take it… but we do have an agreement that I get my very own room aboard should I decide to use this method of travel. Enjoy yourselves." Koharu skips away a few feet and stops, "I'll be in room seven, but at one point I will be on the deck near the front. I enjoy the stars. You are welcome to use the room as well." She turns and continues her skipping to the room.

"Killua, lets go take a look around the ship!" Gon runs off towards the front deck with Killua in tow. Kurapika and Leorio walk around for a few moments before finding a nice spot to settle in the shade. "She seems way too happy about being on a long boat ride with us. Something seems up," Leorio starts as he looks around at the different types of people already on board. "I would have to agree, except if The Master of Nen took her 'wings' then I suppose taking a nice boat ride is better than swimming." Kurapika pulls out a book and starts to read. Leorio passes time by gawking at the tourist women.

Gon and Killua ran around the ship several times looking for things to do. Killua spotted the lounge, which had some tacky board games and Gon was the one to spot the fishing equipment. The boys spent several minutes examining the fishing equipment with awe and curiosity. "So, you boys enjoy fishing?" an old man wearing a white jacket and blue pants asks from behind them. Gon is the first to speak, "Yes sir! I'm from Whale Island; there is lots of fishing. I like to think I'm pretty good. My name is Gon, and this is my best friend Killua." The old man laughs at his enthusiasm. He smiles, "My name is Elias. I am this ship's Captain. Nice to meet you both."

Gon and Killua stay entertained after their meeting with the captain by following him around the ship and learning about all the different areas. They stay upstairs with the Captain and chatter about their love of fishing; Gon did most of the chattering while Killua listens. Leorio sought out more tourist women and talked with them. After a while though, each of the women would dislike his opinions, thoughts or the way he presented himself and he would be snubbed for the rest of the day.

Kurapika watches the sunset by himself. He sits at the very front of the ship with his legs hanging over, resting his chin on the metal railing. He sighs a long sigh and closes his eyes. He could not stop thinking about the Master of Nen. He would try to think about the sunset or the way the water sparkled when the rays of sunlight hit the waves just right. She would seep into each and every thought. Try as he might, Kurapika could not rid her from his mind.

Kurapika felt a presence beside him and opens his eyes. Out of the corner of his eye he could see blue hair. "You looked lonely," She says and rests her chin on the railing as well. A feeling of comfortable silence had taken over them. The sounds of the slight splashing of water, gulls, the bells of other boats and ambience of people in the market a ways behind them had a wonderful effect on the mind. She interrupts the sounds of the sea, "Penny for your thoughts?"

Kurapika sighs and looks around like he was nervous. He clears his throat, "What is she like?" A very vague question indeed, but Koharu knows just what he is talking about. "Hmm…" She begins, "Well, she's very pretty I believe. I suppose perhaps that is just my opinion though. She is very skilled in many things, but at times, she can be… I don't know, hot headed?" Koharu thinks hard about what else she can say about her dear friend. "She acts very cold," she pauses, "she isn't though; she actually cares a lot."

"She sounds nice," Kurapika lifts his head up, "I have another question." Koharu nods for him to go on. "What's the island like?" He asks and looks at Koharu. "Big," She starts thinking about the island she knows almost as well as she knows cosmetology; she knows a lot about cosmetology. "I can say very little. You would have to see it with your own eyes to appreciate its beauty like I do. A small hint for you and your friends: choose your guide and team wisely." She smiles and stands up. She watches the sun finally set and walks towards the room that was given to her.

 _Choose my team and guide wisely… I guess when the time comes, that hint may make some sense. I wonder just how big the island is._ Kurapika abandons his post at the front of the deck and walks around the ship. He looks at all the people that seem to be hunters. Wide ranges of people were there, many hunters looked just as tourists, but they tend to have a dangerous feel to them. He did not yet recognize anyone and continued to look as he walked by each one. He wondered which of these people may be on his team and what the guides would be like.


	3. A New Addition

**A/N: Another chapter with a good amount of words. Review or PM and tell me your thoughts, I would love to hear them. Look forward to another chapter next week, I have already written half of it. I hope you enjoy.**

 **(Disclaimer): Hunter X Hunter does not belong to me; however, my original characters and original plots do.**

A New Addition

Time passes by on the boat as slowly as it possibly can. Koharu spends time in her room reading during the day and under the stars at night. Leorio hung out in the room after having his fair share of angry women. He decided that some studying would do him some good since he had nothing better to do. Gon and Killua occupy Koharu's bed and are sleeping away soundly. Fishing all the time and running around non-stop was a surefire way to find a good rest.

Kurapika spends time watching the ocean around them. The Captain points out different sea life they happen to pass by for the tourists: whales, dolphins, shark breeding grounds and rare species of normally unknown creatures. He states that they are getting closer to the island; when asked how he knew, he would explain that there are some rather unique animals on the island; many of those unique animals live in the ocean and migrate around this area.

Within the hour, the boat arrives and docks at a rather large port. Seven other boats were docked there and it looked like their boat was the last to arrive. There were hundreds of people gathering around on the sand in front of the wooden dock. Kurapika, Gon, Killua and Leorio disembark and gather in the area labeled as "Students". There were already about twenty or so other students while many of the people who came from the ships were tourists.

After a while, more and more people were standing under the 'Students' sign waiting for some sort of cue. The four look around at all the other students. Gon recognizes a few and waves to them. He first waves to Hanzo. He gets really excited when he sees Wing and Zushi; Gon bounces up and down and waves at them until they run over to him and his friends. "You guys are here too? Wow! Maybe we can all be part of a team!" Gon exclaimed excitedly.

"Unfortunately, that won't be the case," Wing explained. "They take groups of five. I do not want anything bad to happen, so Zushi and I will be pairing up with three of my friends. However, the guide takes two teams, so I'll see what the others think but there is no guarantee." Wing starts to walk away with Zushi but turns around, "Oh, I forgot to ask. Are you here to see the old Master or his protégé? If you're here to see the old Master, I would suggest going back home. He met with an unfortunate accident." Gon looked to Killua, "Don't worry, we are here to see 'The Master of Nen'. That is her stage name anyways." Wings nods and returns to his group.

Killua took some time to look around the beach. There were eight docks that lead up to the sand; the beach itself spanned about two hundred feet from the docks to the edge of the dense forest. The beach was large and had fine sand while the water was a beautiful blue. The forest was dense right at the edge, which was a bit concerning since the entire island could be the same.

Crack! The sound of a whip resonated through the air. Each of the students fell silent as they watched the man responsible for the sound jump to the top of a nearby boulder. "Listen up!" He yelled gruffly, "Get into groups of five and line up on the beach." The groups that were already formed lined up. Gon looked around. "We only have four people," he pointed out. "We need one more person!" He yells to the crowd of people. Most give him sideways glances or ignore him all together.

"I heard you were looking for another member," a silky voice mentioned from behind the group, "Can I join up with you?" The four turned around to an innocent looking teen. "I don't know very many people here, and all the people I know have a group." They give her skeptical looks. "I won't get in your way. I just want to make it to The House of Nen," She puts her hands up defensively.

"Of course you can join us!" Gon yelled. Both Kurapika and Leorio looked surprised while Killua looked a bit angry. "Don't just say 'yes' to anyone who asks! Idiot." Killua pouts and looks away. Gon looks crestfallen. _Don't say yes to just anyone? She doesn't look that bad. I can't just let her go by herself. I became your friend and I barely knew you. She gets a chance too._ Gon adopts a determined look. "You can join us. My name is Gon," he holds out his hand. She shakes his hand, "Akira, Akira Cadence."

"I promise I won't be an inconvenience. I have actually been here before. I can tell you which guide will be the best," Akira offers. "Wow really? Who?" Gon questions. "I'll show you when the time comes." She walks over with the four to where the other teams are lining up. Kurapika stands in the front with Leorio behind him, waiting for further instructions. Killua stands indifferently listening to Gon chatter to Akira.

Kurapika counts the other teams. _Twenty teams including our own are all standing here waiting._ As everyone waits, twenty or so individuals walk on the beach from the path in the forest and stand in front of the boulder the whip-guy stood on. "Attention!" The whip-guy yelled, "You may all call me Beast. I am third in command here. As you can see in front of myself are twenty-five of our best guides. You will have the option to request one of the guides. Have five of them in mind. We will come around and ask who you want to be with. Depending on the circumstances, you may get who you want right away, or you will have to draw for them." Koharu jumped up next to Beast as he continued on with his speech about choosing guides.

Koharu waves at the group. Gon and Akira wave back. "… And we will begin asking which guide you prefer. Choose anyone before you." One of Beast's lackeys runs over after the speech and marks down the five guides they would prefer. Gon and his friends were about twelfth in line due to the squabble over whether Akira could join their group. The young lackey got to their group. "I would like Koharu to be our guide." Akira voiced from the back of the group. All her other teammates looked back at her with disbelief. "Don't worry, nobody here knows she is available for a guide except one other person. So the two teams are for sure." Her promise seems to relieve their anger slightly. "Very well. You may go stand near Koharu, the other team knows to join you there." The lackey moves on.

"See, I told you guys. Let's get going then," She walks over to Koharu. Koharu smiles and says, "Akira, I wasn't sure if I would see you this year. I'm glad you made it to the Nen journey. Ah, Kurapika, Leorio, Gon and Killua, I'm glad that you joined up with Akira. You took my advice." She smiles as the other team walks over to where they are standing. Gon can't help but notice the bright pink hair and odd getup of the widely known psychotic clown. He winces at the sight of Hisoka. The other three hunters had a similar expression planted on their faces.

Akira, on the other hand, ran right over to him and shook his hand. None of them could hear what they were saying. Hisoka leaned down and whispered something in her ear and then walked over to the group. She began to look very indifferent and then joined the group. "Alright, now that we have everyone," Koharu started, "Please follow me to our lodging for the first few days." She started walking down the beach until they reached a beautiful stone path.

Koharu turns around to walk backwards. "We are on our way to the Southern Mirror Resort. There, you will each get a room to share. There will be two to a room; you would be wise to rest while you can. The way to 'The House of Nen' is long and unforgiving." Koharu looks behind her to ensure she will not trip on anything and continues, "We will be leaving on Friday at noon. So be sure that you are ready to go with anything you feel that you will need. Along with all this, there is one thing I wish to mention. The resort is named after one of the Island's more mischievous creatures: the Kupraine. They are rather dangerous and tourists are advised to stay away from them, should they be seen. We ask that if you should see one, please stay away from it." Koharu turns back around and walks onward with her group of ten.

* * *

Akira was happy to be in the Southern Mirror Resort once again. She had not been here for a very long time. _The beautiful décor, the fancy soaps, the comfy bed, the wonderful television, and the attentive room service are just a few of the reasons that this is my favorite Resort._ Akira flops onto the bed and looks up at the ceiling. _I wish I had this room all to myself… As much as I appreciate the person I'm sharing the room with, I don't like sharing rooms. I suppose he's not so bad. He promised he wouldn't say anything._

"Enjoying the bed? I know I will~" Hisoka coos from over by the window. Akira doesn't mind him being a creep or his odd style. She appreciates him in fact, he provides some sort of entertainment in her life even if it is just the thought of how creepy he is being. She sighs, "I'm going out into town later for supplies. What are you planning to do later? Hopefully not to go toy with the rest of our group." He laughs a little, "You take away all of my fun~"

Akira curls up on the bed and takes a nap before she heads out into the little tourist town. Hisoka lounges in the armchair by the window deep in thought. _I wonder if they will be splitting groups again like the last time. Now that the island is under different rule, they may try to keep the groups together to avoid deaths. I remember seeing her at Heaven's Arena. She was ruthless; she knew the fight would end before death would occur. She may encourage a split of groups. I suppose we will find out when our guide begins the journey. Until then, I can check the ripeness of my fruit~_

* * *

Gon and Killua decide to share their room while Kurapika and Leorio share the one across the hall. Gon and Killua race off towards their room to check out the place. "Kurapika, meet us downstairs at six tonight, ok?" Gon yelled as he ran, "Killua, wait up!"

"Gon made the right call, letting Akira join our team. Koharu knows the island very well, she made a very good choice." Kurapika points out as he and Leorio walk to their room. "This however, brings up the question of how she knew Koharu was available as a guide since it was not said or even implied." Leorio thinks before he gives an answer that seems somewhat obvious to him, "Maybe she has been here before and was part of a group that asked for Koharu. I was listening to another group earlier; they had all been here the year before and only one of them made it to the House of Nen. It sort of reminded me of the Hunter Exam. How you apply once a year and if you don't make it, you just apply for the next year."

The two enter their room and admire the decorations and layout of the room. "Hey Kurapika, look at the bathroom. They have a Jacuzzi in here; it looks nice." Leorio continues looking around at all the regal decorations and luxuries. Kurapika looks at the fine bedspreads and the books found on the shelves. There was a large collection of books written about the island and many written on the art of Nen.

There was one book that had no known author. _Master in the Making_ was the only thing written on the book. It was enough to interest the Kurta. He sits down and opens the book to the opening acknowledgements. _You do not know me. You may not ever know me. This is my story; it may not be interesting or even relevant in the time you read it. I wanted to write this down because should anyone be in my situation, they will know they aren't alone._ Kurapika reads the opening words of this mysterious author and feels profound emotion from just a few simple sentences. He sets it down next to his bed with a promise to read it before he leaves the island.

"Kurapika, I think we should get some sort of backpack for our trip. From what I've seen, most others have things for this—the exception being ourselves, Hisoka and Akira. By the way, do you know the other four people from Hisoka's team?" Leorio asks while looking through some of the contents of the end tables. "Hmm, no. I thought I sensed some familiar aura at the beach, but that could have been Hisoka for all I know. I thought I recognized one of them, but he could have been from our exam year," Kurapika thinks back to the other examinees. "Could have been someone from the first two phases."

Kurapika walks towards the door, "Well, let's go pick up some stuff." Leorio grabs his wallet and walks with him.

* * *

Killua and Gon race to the room with Killua as the clear winner. They open the door to see the wonderful room set up before them. Gon chooses the bed closest to the window and plops down onto it. Killua walks around looking at the pictures up on the walls. "Well, what are we supposed to do until six?" Killua asks in boredom. "What did Koharu say about the creatures this resort was named after? I know she said they were dangerous, but we should find one." Gon offers with curiosity. Killua shakes his head but goes along with Gon's idea.

Killua and Gon go for a walk in the more quiet parts of town in hopes of finding a Kupraine. Gon walks quietly down the alleyways while Killua stands on the sidewalk waiting for Gon to return. After Gon returns from the alley, he adopts a sheepish grin, "Killua, do you have any idea what they look like?" Killua looks like he's bout to lose it. "We have been looking for this thing for an hour now. You don't even know what it looks like?" He barks at Gon. Killua sighs and begins walking back to the resort, "I can't believe you didn't bother to see what they look like."

Gon walks ahead of Killua who had his hands in his pockets. While on their way back after the hunt for the unknown, Killua spots Akira walk down an alleyway. "Gon," he gets his friends attention and points towards the alleyway. "Lets follow her," the ex-assassin begins to follow her as quietly as possible. He and Gon use Zetsu and completely conceal their presences while pursuing their teammate. They soon reach the end of the alleyway to see a small park. There is a fountain at the center. Akira sits on the edge facing away from them.

Akira has a small bag in her lap she keeps looking through. Killua and Gon crouch down and watch her rummage through the bag. Gon tenses when sees a flash of white and grey from the corner of his eye. Akira tenses too, but only to avoid being knocked over when a creature the size of a dog leaps and tackles her. Killua and Gon are about to leap to her rescue when they hear loud laughter. Killua gives Gon a questioning look then stands and walks towards the fountain. "Hey," Killua calls.

Akira turns towards they with a very surprised look on her face. The creature that tackled her looks up at the two. Gon and Killua have never seen anything like it. It was a large, grey, dog-sized creature with the body structure similar to a lion. It had a long, dark-grey tail with a large, white barb at the end. These were all somewhat common qualities with monsters; what sets this creature apart was the head. It had a wolf-like muzzle, a cat-like face, two large foxlike ears and a mirror like object on its forehead standing upright so whatever the creature looked at was reflected. Upon closer examination, there were small wings on the shoulder that looked to be more decoration than useful appendage.

"We saw you walk down here, and we got worried when you were tackled by… What is that?" Gon questions. Akira pats the creature on the head and it sits on the edge of the fountain with her eying the bag she has with curiosity. "This is a Kupraine. One of the more regal ones actually." She takes out a piece of dried turkey and sets it down for the Kupraine. "I know they are said to be dangerous, but if you are calm, they are as harmless as a dog." Akira explains the nature of the seemingly harmless creature. Gon carefully reaches out and brushes the fur with his fingertips. _This is probably the softest thing I have ever touched. They seem harmless now, but you are wrong Akira. Good hunters are well liked by animals. They may only be friendly towards you._ "Killua, pet it. Its so soft." Gon whispers to his friend.

Killua reaches out as well to touch the Kupraine and feels a similar awe as Gon did. _What was it Gon said about hunters and animals? Better not spoil this for her, she thinks highly of these critters._ Akira stands and puts her new backpack on. "I'm going to head back to the resort. I'm going to bring my friend here, care to help me sneak him into my room?" She asks with a wry smile. "Gon nods enthusiastically and smiles brightly. Killua puts his hands in his pockets and walks with Akira and Gon as they get the Kupraine to follow them.

Killua distracts the staff in the lobby while Akira and Gon pick up the Kupraine and sneak him into Akira's room. Killua soon joins them in the room and watches as the Kupraine runs around the room exploring the surroundings. "You guys want to play a game or watch TV? Koharu let me have the movies from her room." Akira asks with a hopeful smile. "Sure! Killua, does that sound alright?" Gon asks. Killua nods and sits on Akira's bed. She pulls out a scary movie about the forest. "We can watch this, I heard it was good." She puts the movie in and then sits on her bed near the pillows.

Gon and Killua sit on each side of her with the Kupraine stretched out on the foot of the bed. Akira watches as the credits begin to roll by. She sees the large foxlike ears of her furry friend twitch an point towards the door. The door opens and Akira's roommate steps in only to be tackled to the ground by the Kupraine. "Akira!" Hisoka yells for help. The three laugh at Hisoka briefly before Akira walks over and lifts the growling Kupraine off the now angry Hisoka. "They let you bring that in here? Oh, some of my favorite teammates are here~" He gets up off the floor and sits in the chair by the window quietly.

"We should probably go," Gon says, "We are meeting up with our other friends. See you later!" He and Killua each pat their vicious magician-hating friend on the head and leave. Akira pats him too and plays with his large ears. "You aren't so vicious, you just hate magicians," she looks over at Hisoka, "Isn't that right Hisoka?" She says the last part louder as to direct it at him. She gets a grunt in response.

* * *

 **A/N: Wonder what some things look like in my story? Perhaps I have not decribed them well or perhaps you are just curious to see an actual rendering. I will hopefully put a link on my profile soon with drawings of some of the creatures that appear in the story along with a map and some other information if it interests you.**

 **It may be sort of dumb, but I always sort of imagined Hisoka to be one of those ruthless people who practically piss themselves when attacked by an animal. I don't know, it could just be me...**

 **I hope you enjoy the story so far, I have so many plot twists and future romances in my mind! Be prepared for silly moments and thick foreshadowing!**

 **See you next week!**


	4. Inner Fire and Dangerous Pets

**A/N: As I said, some chapters would be pretty long; this is the longest one so far.**

 **(Disclaimer): Hunter X Hunter does not belong to me. The only things that belong to me are Original characters and Original plots.**

 **Warning: This chapter contains violence and a scene of torture. If this is a problem for you, I suggest you skip the part labeled '**Warning**' until you see the bolded **Warning over**.**

Inner Fire and Dangerous Pets

Friday morning rolls around in no time. There is little time to pack and get ready for the journey. Koharu sits on the couch in the lobby with a clipboard and pen waiting for her team to make their way down there. Soon everyone from her team arrives and she begins to check her list. "Alright everyone, get in a line. I have to get your information and have you sign a paper implying: 'If you die on this trip, its not out fault.' So who is first?" Koharu is back to using her extremely upbeat attitude.

"Name?" Koharu begins her info sheet. "Genki," the first answers. "Age?" She continues. "Fifty-three," he admits indifferently. "And what do you hope to accomplish here?" is her final question for his form. "I see guidance from the master. She is said to be the very best. I wish to learn a better use of my Nen for my career." She nods and hands him a pen. "Sign here. We are not responsible if the Dangers of the island are too great for you to handle. Should you perish under our supervision or not, we are not responsible. Go wait by the door. We are glad to have you for this journey." Koharu points him to the door and switches her paper to the next one.

Genki: Fifty-three, Guidance.

Sharaku: Twenty-eight, Test of Skills.

Eizo: Thirty, Knowledge.

Moromao: Thirty-one, Practice.

Hisoka: Age Unknown (Won't tell me), "I'm not sure."

Akira: Seventeen, Fun.

Gon: Eighteen, Acquiring Skills.

Killua: Eighteen, Acquiring Skills.

Leorio: Twenty-five, "My friends are going."

Kurapika: Twenty-three, Information.

Koharu walks outside after depositing the forms with the man at the counter. "Alright guys, Lets get going!" Koharu is about to walk onwards when she spots the large grey Kupraine next to Akira. "Akira, I thought we were supposed to stay away from those! You are going to get us all in trouble!" Koharu proceeds to freak out and think about all the consequences. "Koharu, its fine. He's very friendly. Except to magicians." She whispers the last part but can't hold back a tiny smile. Koharu gives in, "Fine; but if beast complains, its your head he will have—not mine."

"Alright everyone. Once we get to the edge of the forest," Koharu starts walking, "you will have two choices. You can take a map and go off on your own, or you can stay with me. I would say that going on your own may be faster, but staying will certainly be safer." She holds out a few maps. Hisoka and his team each take one and go their separate ways. Koharu waits until she can't see her former teammates anymore and then speaks up, "Its too bad really, my map is much cooler." She laughs.

Gon looks slightly confused as to why this is so funny for Koharu. "Gon, look," Akira gets his attention and takes a map from Koharu. She opens the map to reveal an outline of the island with a 'you are here' mark and a 'House of Nen' mark on the other side. "This one is pretty much blank, so see Koharu's map?" Koharu opens her guidebook with the improved map. The details were profound and tiny but at the same time very clear. The map also had a path printed on it for the safest route. "See, the others went straight towards the House of Nen, but the safest way is to take a long detour the opposite direction." Akira smiles as she shows off her knowledge of the island. _Tone it down know-it-all. If I'm not careful…_

"Oh wow, your map is so cool!" Gon exclaims as he looks over the map. "I know right! I spend a fortune on this one. Those dummies don't know what's in store for them!" Koharu laughs and skips off in the opposite direction of the loose-cannon teammates. "This way," she beckons.

The team spends the first two hours walking along in the dense forest. "So team, before I forget, I have a sort of speech or explanation for you regarding this journey," Koharu breaks the ambience of the dense forest. "The path we are taking is one I have decided on myself. Meaning that the other teams will not be taking this—they usually make their own paths anyways—but this one is special. I have explored every inch of the island and believe that this is the scenic route. There are many animals and creatures—many very dangerous—along with many places to stop and enjoy yourself. I am treating this as sort of a vacation. I know you are all here for something important, but you have all the time in the world for that. Plus, I am the second in command here at the House of Nen; I know a thing or two about the art."

Gon, Killua, Leorio and Kurapika look at Koharu with mixed emotions. Akira is indifferent to the change in ideals, like she usually is. The other four can't help but feel angry, confused and excited. Angry that Koharu treats this like a vacation, confused that she did not mention her ties until now and excited because they get to go on a cool adventure. "So will you be training us on the way to the House of Nen?" Gon was the first to recover from his shock to ask. "Absolutely! Not only I, but Akira here is also very skilled." _Be careful not to say too much Koharu! Akira will have my head if I divulge too much. I guess I can't help but enjoy the beauty of this place… She didn't seem to mind he idea, but she is like a brick wall when it comes to real emotions._

All eyes go to Akira. She stands with her hands in her pockets, "What? I figured you all knew who I was. You did invite me into your group." _Keep lying to them._ "I am quite skilled yes, but I am by no means perfect. Like I said earlier on the form: I'm only here for fun." Akira said. "Well, lets go guys; it's going to be dark soon. Koharu, If you could please lead the way," Akira points to the part of the forest they were going to walk through.

"Right. We shall continue until the sun begins to set and then find a spot to stay for the night. I'm hoping to reach the edge of the very dense part of the forest by tonight. There is an open spot just before then that we can stay at." Koharu walks on with determination followed by her team. Akira lags in the back and watches her surroundings. The Kupraine follows next to her quietly matching her speed. _I'm going to have to find a name for you. Buyo. I shall call you Buyo._

"How much longer are we going to walk?" Leorio asks sounding rather grumpy. "Koharu looks at the sun that is soon to set. "Just a little longer and we can take the rest of the night off," She steps over a fallen tree and is greeted by the beautiful clearing before a wall of forest. "Looks like we are here." Koharu announces proudly.

* * *

Hisoka takes the map from Koharu and walks off in the direction he remembers the House of Nen to be. _Looks like we got to split up after all. I will take my time getting there though. I wonder how well the other four guys will do on their own. Akira stayed with them; I was sure she would choose to slip away as soon as she could._ Hisoka walks on looking around at the beautiful forest around him. After about an hour of walking, Hisoka sits down to take a break.

He opens up his map. _What the hell is this?_ He panics and cringes. _This map is empty! Just the rough outline of the island? Where are the landmarks and the different paths? There should at least be a mark of where the lakes are or where the mountains begin. This is not funny._ Hisoka throws the map. _Bullshit map. I can't believe she came up with this idea. There is no way the other guys are going to make it. I guess I can walk until I get to a spot I recognize. Smart girl._ He grunts and looks up at the sky. _She sure got us good._ Hisoka sighs and begins to walk onwards into the unknown.

* * *

"Gon, you are an adept hunter yes?" Koharu asks. Gon nods. "Do you think you could go out and find some sort of thing for us to cook? Take Buyo with you," Koharu takes a necklace out of her bag. She puts the necklace around Buyo's neck. "This way I'll be able to see through his eyes and help you out." Gon and Buyo walk off into the trees in search of food. "Akira, think you can start a fire? Killua, can you help her with that?" The two nod. "Kurapika, Leorio, Think you can collect firewood and water?" She asks nicely while rummaging through her maps and plans for the next day. "Certainly, which way is the stream?" Leorio asks. Koharu points in its general direction.

Akira and Killua gather some nearby sticks and set them up. "Want me to do that? I think I can use my Nen…" Killua offers. Akira refuses his help, "Its ok, I was supposed to be working on starting fires with the other pieces of wood." She picks out a couple of sticks she thinks are good enough. She pulls a piece of string from her bag and wraps it around the stick. "Here, use this rock to keep the stick still while I spin it." Killua does what he's told and tries to keep the stick upright.

Her arms get tired from pulling the string. "Why is this so hard?" She asks out loud but is really only asking herself. She growls. She continues to try and start this fire to no avail. She spends damn near fifteen minutes trying and with each minute that passes she gets more aggravated. Killua stays right where he is holding the rock. He would offer, but Akira seems like she might snap if he offers.

 **Plink**

The string Akira had been using had finally broken. She had seen it begin to fray and hoped that she could start the fire before it snapped completely. She sat there with a piece of string in each of her hands. Her face betrayed no emotion. Perhaps she only looked as if she was about to say 'oh… ok'. Hey eyes on the other hand shown a world of anger and frustration mixed into an ocean of rage.

Killua moved the rock as the stick fell over. He looked into her eyes and could see the rage there. He held his breath momentarily for perhaps a reason close to fear. _People tell me I look scary when I'm angry. I have never seen rage in someone's eyes such as this._ He could feel the aura emanating from Akira. His eyes widen. _Her aura is strong._ He stands slowly and takes a few steps back.

 _Stop. Don't do this now. Settle down. No! Stop!_ Akira rises to her feet slowly. Her face plain and indifferent except her eyes. "Akira no!" Koharu yells from her spot. Akira had not registered what her friend said but instead continued to stare at the pile of wood meant for a fire. Koharu, noticing that her words have no effect on Akira, turns to Killua. "Killua," She gets his attention, "Back away slowly." He does as he's told and takes a few more steps back.

Akira stands up straight and reaches a hand out in front of her. The air around her begins to warm and small flames begin to flicker around her body. She growls. The flames grow larger and hotter around her body. Killua can feel the heat warming his face. His eyes widen at the flames as they move around her body so freely. _She must be a Transmuter or Conjurer. The flames look real and I'm not using Gyo._ He uses Ten to keep himself safe from her aura. _So much power and she doesn't look phased at all._ Akira focuses the aura into her hand. Stronger flames form around her hand. She kneels down and sets her hand on the sticks. The ones on top incinerate immediately while the others slowly catch fire.

The fire begins to burn on its own and Akira slowly stands up. The aura around her begins to dissipate and the flames soon disappear. There are faint scorch marks on the grass around her. She blinks a few times and looks at the fire. "Oh hey! I did it!" She turns to Koharu with a large smile, "Koharu look!" She stops smiling when she sees the fear written all over Koharu's face. "Koharu, what's wrong? You look like you have seen a spider." She looks at Killua. He looks much like he normally does: indifferent. There is a slight cautionary look about him though. He looks like he could bolt at any moment.

"Akira, you did the thing." Koharu stutters out.

"The thing?"

"You got this weird look and let you aura loose. You burned some of the grass too." Koharu pointed to the ground where Akira stood.

"Oh," Akira looks at the ground. "I guess that means we will be seeing the rest of our team soon. There is no way they didn't sense that." She turns to Killua. "Sorry. I am slightly impatient. Please don't tell them what you saw. It'll give me a disadvantage when we train."

Killua nods. "I don't think it would matter that much. From what I just saw, you are clearly on a whole different level." He thinks for a second. "What do we do about the burns?"

"I'll just say that I was a little frustrated and started the fire with Nen. That isn't too much detail right?" Akira smiles sheepishly.

Gon and Buyo are the first to come back to the camp out of breath. "What happened?" Gon yells. Kurapika and Leorio return too much the same. "Well…" Akira begins, "I started the fire," She says happily. _I hope I get out of this one without giving too much information. Killua saw first hand so I will just have to trust that he wont say anything._ Leorio laughs. "Damn, you sure are eccentric. I'll give you that."

Kurapika sets down the firewood next to the fire. "Some large scorch marks," He says suspiciously. _Suffocating aura too. Worst I have ever felt. She must really be strong._ Kurapika walks to a tree nearby and sits down with his back against it. _She is certainly not normal. When I get Gon, Killua and Leorio alone I should tell them my thoughts on how dangerous she is._ He pulls out the book he took from the resort. There is enough light from the fire for him to read the words rather easily. He had already read a few pages back at the resort but continually got distracted.

* * *

Kurapika opens the book to where he left off and begins to read the sorrowful words of the unknown author. He reads the bolded lettering of the chapter title, "Fire with Fire".

 ****Warning****

 _That day was the day I finally decided it was time to run away from my fourth foster home. Tired of being called a problem child and little demon, I left in the night. I was completely alone from then on. It was quite a time. Most children choose a time later in their lives to run away, but I chose the age of four._

 _Living on the streets all on my own was difficult in the beginning. I tried to live in the streets and live off the food people tossed out. It was not living at that point. I barely existed at that point as well. I was on the edge of death. I remember this turning point in my life as clear as day. I was sitting on the sidewalk next to the alley. It was hot as all hell outside (Most days kept the pavement at triple digits; enough to burn someone with scraps for clothing). I was trying to keep cool. There was an old newspaper I was using as sort of an umbrella._

 _An older man approached me. I looked up at him. He was a bum as well. He snatched my shade but was soon uninterested in the tattered paper. He was interested in the young girl sitting helplessly on the ground. I was scared. He took me by the wrist and lifted me off the ground. I stayed limp and appeared to be lifeless. I was weak from starvation and lack of hydration. There was no way to fight him._

 _He took me to where he usually stayed. I don't know what about myself seemed to scream 'take me and abuse me', but I curse the part of myself that seemed that way. My days were endless torture. I would sincerely hope that I would be the only one to know the pain of being stripped of a shirt and held down on the sweltering ground. I remember begging and crying. I thought 'what did I ever do in my life to deserve this?' and 'why did I leave the home that at least gave me a roof over my head?' because at that point, the fact I left my home was very stupid._

 _I wasn't sure if my tormenting would ever stop. All I was sure of was the pain. You would think that after a few weeks of it that I would have built up a tolerance. I figured that when my skin would blister on the hot surface, that the skin underneath was what was being damaged._

 _My captors grew bored of the same crying every day._

 _Actual flames were eventually used. My body scarred. Even as I write this book, I can see the faint flame-like markings on my body. I digress. They kept my face safe from the flames. "Don't want that pretty little face to be ruined do we?" They would all laugh at the remark. How I wished vengeance on them. I thought about it each night as I washed my blistered skin with the cleanest water I could find in an alleyway. I wanted to see them all dead. I wanted to burn them. I dreamed about hearing their screams just as I had screamed._

 _The day I got my wish was perhaps the most liberating feeling in the world. They began their daily routine of torture. Out came the gasoline soaked rags and lighter. They set the rags on my body and held me down. They lit the edge and almost instantly the whole rag was roaring to life with flames. I closed my eyes but the pain did not come. The men dropped their guard and I stood slowly. I only felt warmness as the rag fell from my body and as the fire spread to envelope my entire being._

 _I held out my hands examining the fire. I looked into the eyes of my captor. His friends—accomplices—ran for their lives. He took a step back. I took two steps forward. I'm not sure whether the experience was scary for them because a young child of four stood covered in flames that did not burn her or if the fact a victim had resisted. I was no longer resisting though. I was enacting my own will._

 _I saw the fear in his eyes. It only made me angrier. The flames grew hotter and expanded farther. He was backed into a corner. He slid down with his back touching the wall. He was sitting with his hands in front of his face. "I-I'm s-s-s-sorry," he uttered. I grabbed his wrist. He screamed as his flesh sizzled under my grip. I remember a great feeling of joy watching the tears stream down his face. "Don't want to ruin that pretty face of yours do we? Yes. We do." I let go of his wrist and touched his face tenderly with my hand._

 _He was blind, disfigured and smelled of burning flesh. I waited patiently for the fire to go out around myself. Afterwards I felt so tired. I found some scrap clothing to wear and walked off in the direction of the ocean._

 ** _**Warning Over**_**

Kurapika closes the book. Buyo sits in front of him staring intently at his eyes. He sits up and sees his reflection in the mirror grown on its forehead. His eyes were scarlet. He has tears streaked down his cheeks. "This book is so sad. It hurts to know this is a real person." He says to no one in particular. Buyo whimpers like a dog.

 _Seems like everyone is asleep already. I suppose I should get some rest as well._ Kurapika feel eyes watching him. _Not everyone is asleep._ He looks around at all his teammates. Gon is sleeping next to the fire; Leorio is sleeping on the other side of the fire. Koharu is sleeping in a hammock she put up between two trees. Killua is propped up against a tree. _He looks like he's asleep. I guess someone like him doesn't really sleep. He's not the one watching me._ Akira seems to be absent from the bunch of sleeping teammates.

Kurapika decides to use Gyo to try and see her aura. _I've noticed that she seems to always use Ten even when not in a fight. Albeit a very thin layer, it should be enough to spot her._ He focuses aura to his eyes and scans the campground. He spots a very dark-purple tail-like object hanging down from a thick tree branch on the other side of the clearing. Wispy purple catlike features can be seen in the dark. _Large cat ears, whiskers, glowing eyes, that all have a purple twinge to them. What in the world?_ A purple paw-like hand waves at him. _Long claws._

The purple features don't end with the head, tail and hands, but a purple aura appears in a cat paw shape around the figure's feet as soon as it gracefully slips off of the branch. No sound can be heard when it touches the ground. _My imagination?_ The figure is clothed in a black training suit much like the Kurta's own. It gets closer and smiles. There are small purple fangs made of aura. The figure crouches down and balances on the balls of its feet with the aura covered hands resting on its knees. Their faces mere inches apart. Kurapika stops focusing on the aura and realizes that it is just Akira.

"I could have killed you just now," the Kurta tries to sound tough to cancel out the fear laced into his expression. Akira's eyes that were once grey were now a lovely hue of purple. They had a catlike appearance to them. "Or, I could have killed you," she echoes quietly.

Kurapika doesn't even think when he throws a punch aimed at her face. His fist does not find its target but instead an empty campground. Still using Gyo, he scans the trees to find Akira right back in the spot she was originally in. She was lounging on a thick branch leaning against the trunk with her legs kicked out and crossed at the ankles. She waves at him and flashes a large smile.

Unknown to Kurapika, Akira was not the only one watching him. Killua was awake as well and had watched the aura clad girl walk across the camp with her aura tail swishing behind her oh so realistically. Killua watched as Kurapika threw a punch at the after-shadow of Akira. He could have laughed at how slow the Kurta was if he wasn't pretending to be asleep.

* * *

Akira was the first one to wake up. She sat in the tree and watched all the other hunters. Gon had rolled farther away from the fire as well as Leorio. Kurapika is sleeping curled up in the spot he was reading in. Killua, who is certainly asleep now, is still sitting propped up against a tree. Koharu still sleeping in her hammock. Buyo slept underneath the branch Akira occupied.

She jumped down from the branch and landed silently. She carefully put out the embers left over from the fire and quickly ate the leftover food from the night. "Buyo," she whispered, getting the Kupraine's attention. "Lets go for a walk." She searched through Koharu's bag and took out a pen and scrap of paper. 'Went for a morning run. Be back soon. –Akira and Buyo' She scribbled and then used the pen to pin the note to the ground.

She wandered off into the woods with faithful Buyo at her side. She starts to let her aura pool around her head, hands and feet. The same aura she used last night. Or rather, the aura she uses whenever she isn't sleeping. "Naughty Kitty!" She whispers as the aura gives her some features of a cat. The heightened senses work out in her favor. Her Naughty Kitty ability is an enhancer ability—one she learned quite early in her life and had plenty of time to master. "Sit Buyo." He obeys. She squats down and plants her feet. The aura giving the appearance of large cat feet strengthens. She jumps up high above the trees and quickly glances around her surroundings.

She spots a flock or birds take flight about one hundred yards to the left. Gracefully landing on her feet a few seconds after she ascended. "Lets go Buyo!" She runs off toward the disturbance with Buyo. She feels eyes watching her as she runs but pretends to pay no attention to it. _Which one of you bastards is following me?_ She slows down as she gets closer and listens with her heightened hearing. The large aura ears help her to hear even the quietest things.

She walks quietly until she sees what causes the disturbance. A large Boarroxeon is finishing off a meal of wild pig. Akira however knows this specific creature personally. "Syn," she calls. The large creature looks up from its meal. Its mouth is dripping with blood. Akira walks over and reaches up to pat the creature on the head. "Staying close to me huh? Good boy." She tells it encouragingly.

She senses the eyes still watching her. Akira turns to where she walked. "Please come out," She calls to her shadow. Killua steps out from behind a tree and watches the large creature beside her with caution. Syn growls loudly showing off its large teeth. "Quiet Syn." She says. The beast lies down behind her. She sits down and leans against its folded wings. "Sit with me," She pats the ground beside her. Killua reluctantly walks over and sits beside her.

"This is Syn. He hasn't left since I arrived on the island. Interesting specimen right? A very rare species. I assumed he was some sort of dragon when I first met him. I was perhaps twelve when I found him. He was very much like he is now but very small. I held him in my arms." Akira explains a little about her pet.

Killua leans back on the scaly wing. He looks at Syn and examines him. _The whole beast was a deep black. It has a large head with a snout that looks like a boar's along with two large boar tusks. I saw the large teeth that reminded me of the way a wolf brandishes its teeth. The face shape looks like a wolf's face: the entire head really, except the snout and ears. The ears were long and skinny like a sand fox's with white on the ends. They pointed backwards unless it was listening, in which case they would flick forwards abruptly. It laid its head upon its large paws much like someone lying on their stomach would rest their cheek upon their hands. It had a long neck about twice the length of its head. The large shoulders were much like a lion's and the arms were very muscular. The paws themselves were much like a dragon's. There were three fingers and a thumb, each bearing a very long claw. The wings protruded from just below the large shoulders. The wings were scaled and looked like dragon wings. Its body after its ribs was like a serpent. It had a lanky midsection until the large lion haunches and paws that made up the back legs. The tail tapered off into two separate forked fan-like scaled fins much like the wings. The tail had scales on the underside but fur on the top._

Syn was very alike a manticore: the body of a lion with large scaly wings and a serpent's tail. Syn is special though. He has the head of a wolf, the snout of a boar and the ears of a fox. His front paws are also very alike a dragon's so it is possible to pick up objects. The black fur and scales was also very unique. "He's very impressive. I can honestly say that I have never seen anything quite like him." Killua compliments Syn. He could swear he saw the beast flash a smile.

Akira stands and offers a hand to Killua. He takes it and stands up. "Go home Syn. I'll be ok." She orders. Syn lovers his head and lightly shoves Akira's arm. She hugs his large furry head. She, Killua, and Buyo walk back into the thick forest. "Let's have a race," Akira suggests. Killua nods. "Naughty Kitty," She whispers. "Go!" She bounds off towards their camp. Killua is distracted by her speed and then runs after her with Buyo by his side.

Both Killua and Akira make it back to camp before anyone is awake. Akira laughs, "You are pretty fast. I was honestly not expecting you to catch up so quickly." Killua nods and sits under the tree he had previously occupied. The sun has just started to rise. Akira disposes of her note and hops back into the tree she spent the night in. Killua uses Gyo and looks at Akira who is now relaxing in the tree. She still has her aura shaped around her to accent catlike features. _Crazy girl. Burning the grass, picking a fight with Kurapika and running off in the morning, what could she possibly do next? She is interesting at least._ Killua closes his eyes and leans on the tree. His lips for a smile against his will. He never intended to be interested in anyone other than Gon. _Change is dangerous._

 **A/N: I'm not sure how well I described Syn… I do have a drawn picture of him, which I will try to get up and available for you to view. I honestly just think of him as a furry dragon, but just slightly different.**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoy it. I also hope you look forward to future chapters because the foreshadowing is thick within all my chapters.**

 **Have a good day/night! :3**


	5. Zetsu and Seek

**A/N: This is a relatively short chapter so I will be putting up Chapter 6 as well. I would really love to hear what you think of my story. Fell free to drop me a PM or a review. I have been feeling unusually inspired and am writing a lot more during the week. I may end up posting chapters on tuesdays as well, depending on how much I have done.**

 **I have a lot planned for this story. I know the beginning may seem a bit boring, but I** **assure you that it will get a lot more interesting soon.**

 **[Disclaimer]: I do not own Hunter x Hunter or any of the characters. I do, however, own my original characters and plots. This story is written for entertainment purposes and do not necessarily reflect the views of myself.**

Zetsu and Seek

"Alright guys, this part of the forest is a lot more dense than what we walked through yesterday. There is also a pack of harbinger wolves that live within the forest. While we move through the forest—which will certainly take us until the sun goes down—I would like you to practice Zetsu." Koharu instructs. "If possible, I would like you to completely conceal your presence. If I can hear you breathe, then they certainly can."

"Koharu," Kurapika speaks up, "There is a slight problem with that." Koharu gives him a questioning look and waits for him to continue. Kurapika points to Leorio. "He can barely use Ten." Kurapika sighs and Leorio looks at the ground rather embarrassed. "Oh boy," Koharu breathes out a nervous breath, "That is quite a problem… Well I suppose there is time to learn." Koharu drops her bag and walks into the middle of the clearing. "Use Gyo, if you can," She adds spitefully.

"While Ten allows a user to keep aura from leaking away from their body," Koharu demonstrates. "Zetsu stops the flow of aura from their body altogether." She begins to use Zetsu very slowly so she can explain the mechanics. "By closing all of their aura nodes, the user is able to stop almost all outflow of their aura like water from a valve."

"This can be useful when tracking another person and it will also prevent other users of Nen from noticing them. Zetsu can also be used to relieve fatigue, since it forces the body's external layer of aura to be fully contained within." She continues. "However, since the user is no longer surrounded by their own aura, they are more sensitive to the aura of others." She beckons Akira forward with her finger. Akira focuses some of her fiery aura into her palm and walks towards Koharu. She lifts her hand near Koharu's and the fire starts to make Koharu's skin red. "Since Zetsu involves shutting off one's aura, it can be dangerous, leaving the body defenseless against any aura attack. Even a weak attack enhanced with Nen could do massive damage."

Koharu quickly lets the aura flow to her hand. The irritated skin feels cool again and she dismisses Akira back to stand with the rest. "Even Akira's rather neutral aura caused damage to me." She holds up her hand and shows the irritated pink flesh. "Now, you will each practice Zetsu until I deem you worthy.

Akira steps forward, "me first?" Koharu nods. Koharu closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She tries to sense Akira's presence. _No breathing, not even a heartbeat. Just as good as I remember. I wish she chose another group to show off in front of. These guys all seem like rookies._ Koharu opens her eyes to see Akira standing right in front of her. "If I didn't see you with my own eyes, I wouldn't be sure you were there. If fact, I find it hard to believe it's you standing there." Koharu nods and Akira returns back to her spot and sits down lazily.

"Next?" Koharu says with a smile. "Killua, how about you?" _That challenging look in your eyes is all the incentive I need. Lets see Akira win this one. I won't ever be a match for her but this one might be._ Killua steps forward. Koharu closes her eyes. Killua takes a deep breath and holds it. _She will hear me breathe so ill hold my breath. Now to completely conceal my presence._ "Wonderful Killua. You pass. Don't hold your breath next time. Also work on quieting your heartbeat slightly." _Now for the fun part._ Koharu's mind fills with maniacal laughter. _You're going down friend, no hard feelings but if you keep up with this lying then I'll keep putting you up for difficult tasks._ "Practice with Akira. She has nothing better to do." Koharu smirks playfully at Akira.

Akira growls but gets up off the ground. "Fine. Go, hide." She closes her eyes. "One. Two. Three. Four. Five…" Killua gets the idea and runs into the part of the forest they raced through earlier in the morning. He can still hear her counting loudly. "Twenty-eight. Twenty-nine. Thirty." He feels her presence getting closer. "Here I come to get you." He tries to pick up where she is. _There she is._ Just as soon as he felt where she was, she seemed to vanish completely. _Where did she go? She was just there-_ "Boo." She says indifferently. "Found you. Your turn." She walks back towards the others.

Killua closes his eyes and counts out loud in the clearing for Akira. "One. Two. Three…" Akira closes her eyes and calms her heart. She slowly pulls her aura within and seemingly vanishes from the face of the earth. She walks slowly to her tree she slept in. She walks around to the other side and sits down. _Tell me to help train. That is supposed to be your job Koharu. Now I just get to relax in the shade._

"That's no way to play the game," Killua says in his usual silky voice. Akira, who is slightly annoyed now, stands up. "Fine." Killua felt a spike in aura and then Akira had vanished. He looked around and didn't see her. "Koharu," Killua calls. She walks over to him while letting Gon try and help Leorio. "What do you need?" _Akira, you really shouldn't be so difficult about this._ "Where is she?" Killua's eyes turn dull and he has a dark aura around him. Koharu sighs, "I really didn't want to this." She hands him a large silver necklace with a silver pendant. The pendant has a large blue jewel in the middle that seems to have aura swirling around within it. "Find the big black beast and put this on him. Tell him to find Akira. He will bring you right to her." Koharu looks annoyed and returns to her position in trying to teach Leorio.

 _Find the big black beast? Big black beast? Where does she expect me to find something like that in such a short time? I don't know anything about this island except that it's huge. Wait a second… Syn! She's talking about Syn._ Killua places a determined look on his face and starts walking. _Wait… Didn't she tell him to go home? Shit… I could still try._ "Syn!" He yells. He jumps to the top of a rather tall tree and looks around himself. He can see the clearing he came from. "Syn!" He yells louder.

He waits for a few moments but nothing comes. _Should have figured this would be harder._ He looks around for any sort of disturbance. "Syn!" He yells a final time. He watches some birds fly away from a nearby patch of forest. He sneaks over to where the birds escaped from.

He walks close enough to hear the growling emanate from that part of the forest. Syn lays before a large tree enjoying yet another bloody snack. Killua steps into view. "Hey… buddy…" He says nervously. Syn brandishes his teeth and growls. His mouth dripping with blood and an annoyed look in his eyes. Killua holds out the necklace meant for Syn. The beast's eyes widen and he spreads his wings. With a gust of wind, Syn is airborne. _Damn, I should have figured he was going to run._ Killua jumps to the top of the tree and watches where the beast lands.

Killua uses Zetsu and follows Syn. He climbs a tree behind the beast and readies himself. _Have to make this quick. Just jump down and surprise him. Damn that girl. Damn our guide. Damn Leorio! If it wasn't for him…_ He drops his focus for just a second but that was enough. Syn turns his head to look behind himself. He looks right at Killua. _Now or never!_ Killua jumps holding out the necklace. Syn reacts just in time. The necklace gets stuck on Syn's nose and he uses Killua's momentum against him. He flicks his head downwards to send Killua straight into the bushes.

"Damn you!" Killua jumps out of the bushes with the necklace ready. He feigns going for the direct approach to jump onto Syn's back at the last second. "Stay still dammit!" Syn shakes his head continuously to make it hard for Killua because dammit he didn't sign up for this. Killua changes tactics and grabs hold of Syn's scruff. Syn changes tactics too and tries to pull the necklace from Killua's hand. Killua leans forward too far and falls. He grabs hold of Syn's head. The blood from the fur is ruining the white shirt. He hangs upside down with his legs around Syn's neck and his hands gripping the beast's large head.

He gets the necklace on and Syn tries to snap at him. Syn roars and growls. "Stop." Syn quiets and stays still. Killua takes his chance to climb onto the beast's shoulders, "Find Akira."

* * *

"I can't believe this is working," Koharu says in disbelief. "I told you. He's practicing and I get to relax. It's a win-win situation," Akira calls from her tree. Gon walks over to the tree. "Akira," He gets her attention. "Hmm?" She acknowledges. "Killua will be ok, right?" She looks deep in thought. "I suppose so. He's pretty fast, so even if he doesn't use Zetsu, he's still got speed on his side." She pauses and looks up at the leaves. "Syn wont kill him. Syn is a good boy."

"Well I guess that gives me more time to train," Leorio grins. He's getting the hang of using Zetsu. Soon he will be as good as he possibly can be under these circumstances. "Kurapika, soon I may even be as good as you~" Leorio teases. The blond snorts as a response. "We are going to go through that forest as soon as Killua gets back," Gon declares excitedly. "Koharu, what does the necklace have to do with anything?" Gon questions. "Why I'm so glad you asked!" Koharu smiles brightly.

"I am a specialist, but I am very good with manipulator techniques. I call it 'Friend of Fauna'. I can imbue my aura within items to act as charms. My aura is used to fog a beast's mind and calm them. Powerful Nen uses that procure my charms can give specific commands to beasts granted they know how to use the charms. I have many charms I've lost before and I'm sure many people have found them and actively use them. Its quite simple really, the charms are really easy to make. I just find a piece of treasure and focus my aura into it. I have a condition. The more powerful the user, the more commands and words the beast will understand. I also have the condition that more expensive items are easier for others to use." Koharu explains her ability proudly.

"Buyo over there has one so that I could command him should Akira _disappear_." She says the last part rather sinister-like. She still smiles on. She never means any of the cryptic threats towards her very best pal, Akira. Though if everyone else believes her, it makes her a more powerful guide.

"Well, since I told one of my abilities, we have to make this fair for when we move on to the real training. You must each reveal your primary branch of Nen." Koharu smiles sweetly. "I'm an enhancer!" Gon pipes up cheerily.

"Gon! Don't tell her that!" Leorio chides. It is rather dangerous to reveal ones abilities, but Leorio is just upset because he didn't think to make everyone come clean first. He's also mad because he's clearly lacking in Nen abilities.

"I trust her. She told us about her Nen branch and one ability." Gon looks at his friends. "Killua is a Transmuter." Gon smiles, "Your turn Leorio!" The older male frowns and complains at Gon's ability to trust just anyone. He sighs, "Emitter." Kurapika pipes up, "Conjurer."

"Ah, wonderful," Koharu begins. "Akira," She calls. "Transmuter," she says from her branch. "Koharu," She gets the blue-haired girl's attention again. "Why bother asking them? You already knew the answer." Akira points out indifferently. _Let's see you talk your way out of this one. Shouldn't have told me to go train with white-hair. He's not so bad. I would have rather lazed around without having to use Zetsu the whole time._

"What's she talking about Koharu?" Leorio gets really suspicious. "You already knew?" He glares at the guide. "Why bother asking us at all?" He points a finger at her and she puts her hands up defensively. "Well, are you going to answer me?" he yells.

She looks guilty, "Well… I um…" A black shadow appears over the clearing. All the hunters look upwards at the black beast slowly descending on the campground. The black Boarroxeon lands with a thud. Killua sits upon his back covered in blood and exhausted. Syn rolls his shoulders causing Killua to fall off. His white shirt is stained red in multiple places. Syn's mouth is full of blood as well—his black fur shiny and slick with the liquid. "Killua!" Gon runs to his friend's side, "Killua are you hurt?" The ex-assassin shakes his head and gives Gon a thumbs up.

Akira jumps down from the branch and holds her arms out. Syn walks over and lets her give him a hug. He nuzzles her cheek, smearing blood on her face, neck, and shoulder. The black full-body training suit soaks up some of the blood. _I'm glad I chose to wear this for the trip._ Syn growls and shakes his head. The jingle of the silver pendant can be heard over his growl. "I'll take this," Akira takes off the Manipulator's necklace, "Good Syn."

"Well I suppose he is in no shape to go through the dense forest. I suppose we will wait for tomorrow. Leorio, time to show off those skills," Koharu points to Leorio and then to the thicker forest. "Go catch some dinner. Gon, go with him. Do not help him," She orders.

"Kurapika and I will go get firewood and water. Akira, start the fire. No Nen…" She trails off. "Killua… just stay there and rest. Buyo lets go." She and the Kurta walk off into the forest. Akira waits for Koharu to leave before she casually starts the fire with her Nen and goes back to the branch she has grown so fond of.

Syn looks up at the branch from where he is lying on the ground. He stands up on his hind legs using his tail for balance. He grabs the branch Akira is relaxing on and tests it with his forearms. He looks at Akira and flashes his teeth much like a smile. He pushes off with his back feet and climbs on the branch.

Now being a very large dragon like creature, Syn is quite heavy. He's smart, but as most smart people—and animals—are, he is lacking in common sense. The branch bends and snaps the moment his full weight is on it. Both he and Akira land on the ground. She stands holding her backside, "Syn! Bad Syn!" She sits in front of him as he lays down with his forearms crossed. He licks her cheek and gets some of the blood he previously smeared on her, off of her.

He growls and looks behind Akira. "You set me up," Killua says quietly and darkly behind her. "Why, yes I did," She smirks and pets Syn's head that was now laid in her lap, "you did rather well. He did not rip you to shreds. I do have to question all the blood though." Killua looks at his ruined white shirt. "I interrupted a meal. When I struggled to get the necklace on him, he tried to pull it from my hands. I leaned forward too far and fell forward. I grabbed hold of his head, which was sopping with blood, and finally got the necklace on. He growled and tried to snap at me until I ordered him to stop and find you."

He frowns at the beast that was now too comfortable for Killua's liking. "Damn beast. You owe me a new shirt," He points at the beast. Syn opens an eye, snorts and goes back to napping. Akira laughs, "I'll find you a new shirt. Learn to wear black. My shoulder is covered with blood but you see nothing." Killua sits down and sighs, "Guess I'll be getting rid of my favorite shirt."


	6. Questions and Cards

**A/N: I have updated two chapters today, if you have opened up a notification, please note there is one chapter before this that you have not read.**

 **Here is the second chapter for today. Longest one so far I believe. If you have stuck with me thus far, I want to say that you are a saint. It makes me so happy to see people read my story. I really hope that you enjoy it.**

 **[Disclaimer]: I do not own Hunter x Hunter or any of the characters. I do, however, own my original characters and plots. This story is written for entertainment purposes and do not necessarily reflect the views of myself.**

Questions and Cards

"Leorio, time to show off those skills," Koharu points to Leorio and then to the thicker forest. "Go catch some dinner. Gon, go with him. Do not help him," She orders. Leorio was excited to try off his new moves, but this was bit of a stretch. He looks down at the ground and walks to the forest edge sulking. _I know nothing about hunting. I couldn't even get through the Hunter Exam's fourth stage on my own. Zevil Island was hell for me. I wouldn't have got through without Gon and Kurapika._ "Don't worry Leorio. I'll help you catch something." Leorio is taken away from his thoughts. "I have a feeling you don't really know what to do, so I'm going to help you catch something really big so you can impress everyone!" Gon walks along beside him grinning and giving ideas for what to catch.

 _You keep smiling through every challenge. You always know just what to say to brighten everyone's spirits. How you do it, Gon, is completely beyond my knowledge._ He looks ahead of himself and smiles. "Let's go catch some dinner!" Leorio runs off with Gon behind him. _Completely conceal my presence. No aura. No aura. NoAuraNoAuraNoAura!_ Leorio's aura completely disappears and he slowly starts to slow down. "There is something up ahead. Crouch down and be really quiet. Try and sneak up on it," Gon whispers to Leorio when he feels a presence up ahead.

Gon peeks through some bushes to spot what he felt moments before. "This clearing is empty Gon. Just a few small oddly shaped trees," Leorio whispers skeptically. "Shhh! Pay more attention. Look under the 'little trees'," Gon commands and points at a patch of grass under the tree and a foot to the left. Leorio focuses to where Gon points and his eyes widen, "It is moving up and down, like the ground is breathing!" Gon nods and picks up a small pebble. He tosses it at on of the small trees. The pebble rustles a few leaves before landing behind the tree.

The ground the small oddly shaped tree started to move around. What seemed to be the lush green grass was a unique creature called the Seasonal Stag. It is much like a regular stag in size and stature, but its antlers are made of a special substance. The antlers function like a real living tree; they do not fall off like a regular stag and instead continue to grow. The leaves change much like regular trees. During winter there are none while in spring they flower. Summer the leaves are green and lush while in fall they change colors. The large head rises and looks around. The luscious green fur gave the appearance of lush grass from a meadow.

"Go on Leorio, get it," Gon says encouragingly. "You don't have to talk to me like a dog," Leorio grumbles. Gon looks at him with confusion. _You don't even know how innocent you are. Gon is still Gon, despite having grown five years since I last saw you. Well here I go…_

The doctor crawled through the bushes, trying his very best to do so silently. As he moved through the bush, Leorio's blue suit jacket got caught on a branch. _Dammit, I have to take it off now._ He quietly takes off his jacket and lets it hang on the bush branch. He inches close to a sleeping stag. Leorio stepped on a stick and looked down at it. He moved his foot over it and continued on a few feet.

 **Snap**

 _Another stick?!_ Several stags lifted their heads in unison. The large stag closes to Leorio looked up last and saw the doctor. Both the animal and the hunter were completely still—one from fear and the other from surprise. The stag bellowed a cry of alarm. Each stag quickly got up and ran farther into the forest. The larger stag stood his ground and faced Leorio.

"Gon, what do I do?" Leorio cried to where his friend had been in the bushes. Silence. "Gon?" He yelled to the bushes that were now obviously vacant. _Guess it's just me and you._ He takes off his shirt and tosses it back to the bushes. His tie still hangs loosely from his neck. He flips out his switchblade. "Let's go!" He charges forward at the stag.

* * *

"Hey, Kurapika," Koharu gets the blonde's attention. "I'd like to go see Leorio's progress. Let's go watch him," Koharu suggests. The blonde walks along with Koharu. They are silent for the most part. Koharu is a bit of a klutz and occasionally kicks a rock or snaps a stick. "Buyo, go find Gon!" She calls to the Kupraine. He takes off with his nose to the ground.

"Koharu," Kurapika begins. She looks at him. "How do you know that Leorio is this way? Is this also what Akira was speaking about?" He asks her with increasing suspicion. "I'm not sure what you're talking about," she simpers. She skips a little ahead of Kurapika. "I just know these things. Call it 'women's intuition' or a gut feeling?" She grins coyly. _Or maybe it's Omniscient Eyes._ She giggles. "You will find out soon enough, Kurapika of the Kurta clan."

Kurapika stops in his tracks and watches the girl skip onwards gleefully. _How did she know?_ His irises turn red briefly before he clams himself. Koharu stops skipping and turns around once she is a good distance from the Kurta. "How did I know? I told you: I just do." She calls back to him cryptically. He pulls out his Bokken swords. "Stop." His irises turn red once again. He runs and tackles the guide.

"Talk dammit!" He yells. Koharu lie on her back with a heavy breathing Kurta pinning her that way. Her face loses some of the mischievous happiness it had. She looks around at her surroundings while Kurapika holds the collar of her shirt. "Don't make me say it again. I don't like this game you're playing," He threatens. The mischievousness glint returns to her eyes. "Oh, a game. Of course. I like this game better than the other one." She wiggles until her knees are tucked up to her chest and her feet are against the Kurta's stomach. "Let's play." She pushes on him with her feet to test the amount of power she should use. She pushes him off of her easily and he falls backwards onto the ground.

Koharu jumps up without using her hands. She continues skipping around until the Kurta gets back onto his feet. He swings his Bokken swords around as a means of intimidation. "Attacking an unarmed woman? Shameful," She chides and dodges a swing. "Tsk, tsk, tsk." She dodges swing after swing, as Kurapika grows more furious.

Kurapika backs off and stands watching Koharu taunt him. _I have to calm down._ He takes a deep breath and lowers his weapon. _Whenever I swing, she dodges immediately. If she doesn't sense me, I could catch her off guard. She's a lot better than I am in regards to Zetsu… She seems like she could sense aura (or lack there of) a lot better than anyone else. I could fake going straight for her and catch her from behind. Yes. That's what I got to do._ "…Just standing there like a fool," Kurapika heard the end of one of Koharu's taunts that broke him from thought.

 _I have one chance at this._ He starts to run up to Koharu feigning a direct attack. She gets into fighting stance and raises her fists for a fight. He jumps just before his supposed attack and swings to hit her from behind. Koharu ducks and reaches behind her. She snags the end of the Bokken swords and pulls them from the unsuspecting Kurta. _She dodged? How? There was no way she could tell I was going to hit her from behind._ Koharu holds the weapon by one of the wooden sword parts as the other dangles by the rope. "Huh," Koharu swings it around a little. "You almost got me there, you did. You are fast; I'll give you that. I knew what you were going to do before you did it." She swings them around like nun chucks. "And don't you dare think about sending any of those sharp objects my way," She warns.

Kurapika raises his hands, "alright. I give up, you win." He reaches into his belt and quick as lightning, sends a knife right towards Koharu. She uses his Bokken swords as a shield and lets the knife get stuck in the half she was holding. She holds it in front of her face and inspects the weapon. "I wouldn't throw anymore. This one went half way through," She teases him. He grimaces when he sees how far his knife went into the wood. _Damn she's good. Infuriating too. I better stop now before my Bokken swords turn into a knife block._ Koharu walks over to Kurapika and hands him his weapons with a smile.

"You're pretty good. No match for me, but only because my master really gives me a run for my money. She's cruel but sweet," Koharu walks onwards.

"You're talking about the Master of Nen aren't you?" Kurapika asks with mild curiosity. Koharu nods. "So are you going to tell me how you knew?" He presses her again for information. She sighs in defeat, "fine. However, we do this my way. You give me information and once I deem it is equal to mine, then I'll tell you. Are these terms acceptable to you?" He nods. She sits down on a fallen log and pats the spot next to her.

"Well just so we are both clear. You are wearing your tribal outfit. Any idiot who picked up a book could figure that out," Koharu laughs as the Kurta looks down at his clothing rather surprised. "Now, there is something special about how I know these types of things. First: which weapon are you best at using?" She begins the question trade. "To be honest," He begins, "My chains."

"Interesting, now some information for you," She looks like she is deep in thought. "The ability is called 'Omniscient Eyes' and it is one of my Specialist abilities. What kind of information did you come here for?" She looked at him and raised an eyebrow curiously. "Don't you think that is a little personal?" the Kurta complained. She raised both her eyebrows and leaned back, "Too personal hmm? I thought you wanted to know," she starts to get up before feeling a tug on her sleeve. "I'm here for information on the Phantom Troupe."

"You think A-ack-the Master of Nen has that information?" She smiled but chastised herself for almost letting the big secret slip. "Yes, I talked to an old Hunter whom she punished." Koharu's eyes lit up with understanding. "My ability allows for me to perfectly read my opponent. It is less concrete than another one of my abilities. However, with this, I can see the past, present and future associated with my target." She thinks briefly. "It is obvious that you do not know who the master is; but how did you know she would be at Heaven's Arena?"

"I researched it on the hunter website. It was her stage name. There were no good photos of her though. She wore a mask and it was very blurry," Kurapika thought back to when he went to Heaven's Arena. "I feel very dumb," He admits, "I was so caught up with the idea of the Master that I actually thought you were her at first. She has black hair. Yours is blue." He laughs at himself. "Akira actually reminded me of her. But from the picture I saw, the Master had silver tips to her hair and it was slightly longer than Akira's," He told Koharu his thoughts trustingly. Koharu wore a smile on the outside. _I am so glad that he is observant and doesn't just jump to conclusions._

"I saw lots of information about you when I first saw you. It happened as soon as I focused enough aura for Omniscient Eyes. I saw all of your past. Not very detailed or anything. I also saw your future. Nothing is concrete, so I sometimes have to check again for the immediate future. That's how I dodged your attack from behind and the knife. However I have no idea when you will die or who your love will be. That is done another way…" She trails off. "Well, that is all I will share. Let's go spy on Leorio. Zetsu!" Her presence disappears and her footsteps become silent as she skips towards Leorio's direction.

* * *

Buyo runs along in the forest searching for Gon's scent. There! He runs faster following his nose. He walks quietly around the clearing the Seasonal Stags are lying in through the bushes making little to no noise. He spots Leorio sneaking towards a larger stag. He walks to where Gon was hiding and sits behind the Hunter. He whimpers quietly at Gon. "Oh, hey Buyo." He pets the little beast. "Gon, what do I do?" Leorio yells from the clearing.

Gon gets ready to jump out there when Buyo grabs hold of his green jacket. The faithful little beast lets go and shakes his head as if saying 'no'. Gon looks on in apprehension at his friend whom is now squaring off with the large stag. "Gon?" The older hunter calls. Buyo growls at Gon. _Sorry Leorio. This has to be all you. You can do it._

Leorio charges towards the stag with his switchblade. He aims for the beast's throat hoping to end the fight quickly and painlessly. He dodges the antlers driven his way as he plunges the switchblade into the stag's neck. Its eyes widen as it swings its head Leorio's way knocking him off balance and getting him to let go of the switchblade. It snorts at the weapon still lodged in its neck. The stag sees its change and tries to gore Leorio from behind. The doctor rolls out of the way just in time to avoid most damage. He has a medium sized lesion across his arm horizontally.

He turns to the beast as it turns around at him. It charges him again and he jumps out of the way. The doctor's face lights up and he smiles. He waits for the beast to charge him again as he stands in front of a short tree. Sure enough, the stag charges him again and ducks its head down going for a killing blow. Leorio sidesteps the stag and trips him, sending the beast into the tree. He tries to pull free of the branches that tangled with his living antlers. Leorio pulls the switchblade from the animal's neck and plunges it at the base of the skull.

The large green stag stiffens and then goes limp as Leorio removes the knife. He turns around to the sound of slow applause. "Congratulations Leorio," Koharu walks towards him and pats him on the shoulder. "Now you get to carry it to camp!" She exclaims cheerily, "We still have to collect sticks and water. See you at camp." Gon walks out from the bushes with Buyo. "Ah, Buyo. Perhaps you could stay and keep the boys company."

"Gon, where were you?" Leorio exclaims as Koharu walks to where the stream is located with Kurapika at her side. Once out of sight and earshot, Koharu looks over at Kurapika. "I really hope you intend to keep that conversation between us. If you promise then I'll fix the spot where the knife stuck into your Bokken swords." She raises an eyebrow and watched the Kurta carefully. He nods. "If they bring that stag back in one piece anyways…" She trails off and looks at the ground.

* * *

Akira digs through her bag she bought at the market near the resort. "I know it was here somewhere…" She mutters to herself. She tosses her clothes out behind her and then dumps the bag upside down. Out tumbles a large stack of cards held together with some elastic bands. "There you are. No way I could forget you." She set them aside and re-packed her few clothes she brought. She left out her black cloak and a pair of black fingerless gloves. Her cloak was thick and heavy, meant for cold weather or at the very least meant to keep one warm at night. After the night before, she was ready to opt for warmer clothing. She had wanted so badly to crawl up to the fire and sleep there.

She rearranged her things so that they were not haphazardly packed like the first time they were tossed into the bag. She placed her brush and flask on the top. Her flask was just for non-alcoholic drinks (the teen had tried alcohol before and found it did not suit her taste well). The flask also held sentimental value for her. It was a gift from an old friend. She picked it up and looked at it. The flask was made of titanium and had beautiful etched swirls on it. The front had a rectangular piece of black zirconium that looked sort of like a large label. It had a quote that Akira's mentor often used. "Don't die until you're dead." He used it a lot when talking to her. He used to tell her that it was a saying of an old friend from when he was young.

She sets it down carefully and places a shirt over it. Akira closes the black bag, puts on her cloak and gloves, and takes the bands off her cards. Syn lie next to the branch he broke. Akira walks over, sits down and leans on his shoulder. She shuffles the deck that was actually made of two. She starts to play a game of 'in-hand solitaire'. She would play regular solitaire but she doesn't want to lose any cards to the wind.

She plays a few games of cards uninterrupted. The sun is beginning to set and the fire has got more tame. The others were not back from hunting and gathering yet which gave her a slight thought of concern. Should none of them return, she knew the way from where she is. She shuffles her cards once again so she could play another round. Syn turns his large head to watch her shuffle the cards. He inhales deeply and snorts at the cards. Many of them go flying. She takes off her cloak, tosses it over Syn's head and watches as he struggles to get it off.

Finally, Syn manages to get his eyes free of the heavy fabric but the cloak still hangs off of one of his large tusks. Akira says nothing but gets up and begins to pick up her scattered cards after putting the remaining cards in her pocket. She picks up her whimsical animal themed cards one at a time counting how many were scattered. She picks up as many as she could see. She stands up to see a hand holding cards in front of her face. "Oh. Thank you, Killua," she takes the cards from him. "I forgot you were here. Would you like to play?" She offers.

"Sure. What are we going to play?" He watches as she shuffles the cards. Her gloved hands delicately bridging the cards together. Killua looked at the gloves with newfound curiosity. Had they been fingerless for fashion or perhaps they were very old? They didn't look particularly old. His thoughts were interrupted with the quiet admission from Akira, "I actually don't know many games that we could play. I mostly know drinking games or party games." Her cheeks flushed slightly from embarrassment. Her eyes widened, "Oh! I don't drink though. I didn't mean it like that," She blurts out suddenly.

The ex-assassin is surprised with himself when he lets out a quick snicker at her embarrassment. This only seemed to make her more red in the face and she looks at the cards and shuffles a little more quickly. "We can play crazy eights until the others get back, if you want. When they all get back, maybe we can play something for more people. I know poker," Akira suggests. She deals Killua seven cards and takes seven for herself.

She hums as she places cards according to her turn and curses softly when having to draw more cards. Killua plays his cards silently, placing his cards neatly on top of hers. "I've got one card left," she holds her card out and giggles. She keeps its value hidden from his view. He places his card and she puts her eight on top. "I win," She takes the cards and continues to shuffle them.

"You are not playing cards without me!" Akira turns her head slightly to see Koharu's face flushed with disbelief. "Ah, no. I was shuffling actually. Would you like to play?" Akira sends a pleading look towards Killua asking to keep their game between them. "Can I see the Joker cards," Koharu holds her hand out. She knew Akira's deck by heart. She also knew the dirty tricks she used to cheat in card games.

Akira hands her the four jokers. Koharu holds two of the cards out to show Kurapika and then Killua. "Look, I'm on these ones," she practically demands. It was a hand drawing of Koharu surrounded by piles of gold and jewels with a black background. The two male hunters raise an eyebrow at Akira both wondering the same question: why do you even have cards with Koharu on them? Akira looks down at the cards she is still shuffling. What was she supposed to tell them? Any answer she could give would probably sound incredibly weird to them. There was one that could seem plausible… "I bought them last year when I visited the House of Nen," She grabs Koharu's arm the best way possible while still sitting on the grass and pulls her friend to sit next to her.

She snatches the four jokers from her friend and holds out the other two cards. They have the fine print at the bottom the says, 'Master of Nen'. It was a hand-drawn rendering of the so-called master. She sat on a grey and black marble throne, wearing her silver cat mask. She had her leg crossed over her knee wantonly and she leaned to the opposite side with her elbow on the cushion. She had a crystal goblet in her hand filled with a deep purple substance. She had on black jeans; a loose, black, long-sleeved shirt; black combat boots and a heavy black cloak. Her hair was long and black with silver tips. She looked just as the picture on the hunter website had shown.

"At least we know the picture we saw online was really her," Kurapika takes the card from Akira and examines it more closely. Koharu and Akira chatter on about the card with Koharu. They talk about the different kinds of jewels and accessories made of gold. Kurapika looks at the card. The wry smile and the grey eyes filled with determination. He looks at Akira. _They look alike. She has no silver in her hair and I have yet to see her take out a silver mask. Those eyes. The same look of crazy determination as last night when she decided to intrude upon my personal space. She looks about the same age as the master. Considering these cards were from last year (or even two years ago) she would look older. This doesn't seem to be her, but perhaps they are related._

"Gon!" Killua spots his friend and runs over to him. Gon and Leorio each carry an end of the Seasonal Stag. Killua helps them drag it closer to the fire. Koharu stands leaving Kurapika and Akira where they were. He hands her back her card and she stuffs them all into her pocket. Kurapika walks over to his friends to help them with the stag and get Koharu to fix his Bokken swords like she promised. Akira stands, points at Syn, who had been sitting behind her obediently since he scattered her cards, "Go home for real this time. I'm serious. There will be big trouble if I see you around here again. Now go on," She shoos him with her hands. He backs up, squats down and launches himself into the air heading northwest.

Akira walks over to see Koharu using the weird life properties of the sap from the antlers on the Kurta's weapon. "Oh, Koharu, making friends already huh?" Akira smirks. The group all looks at Koharu. "You are all my friends right? Akira is just sour because she didn't get to hunt," Koharu puts her hands on her hips. Akira frowns and sits next to her tree with her arms crossed. "Don't let her attitude get to you guys. She doesn't usually go to the house of Nen like this. She's going to be a bit of a grump," Koharu sighs. "Well, let's start on dinner ok?"

* * *

Kurapika settles down next to the fire and pulls out the book he kept so carefully stowed away. He flips the pages to where he ended. He scans over the next few chapters to see there was nothing really interesting to read. The whole few chapters were basically one large feelings jam that he would not like to participate in. He settles on reading the chapter called "The Long Journey".

 _After a grueling several days in that got awful boat, I had finally arrived on the island. I was going to make it through this and become something great. I had so much hope as soon as my bare feet touched the warm sand. I unfortunately lost my only pair of shoes while hanging my feet over the boat. My bad. I sure was glad that the sand was so nice and warm along with the weather because I also lost my jacket and scarf when I was mugged. It was a pretty bad boat ride, but at least I got to study some of the local fauna._

 _A grizzly man who enjoyed to yell greeted us. The guides were then paraded onto the beach in front of the group of about two hundred people. I thought perhaps we would get to choose our guide but I had the wrong idea. Each guide chose their own team of five. I stood in the hot sun for a very long time. I was among the last to be chosen to go. Perhaps it was because I had no shoes or perhaps because I was about ten at the time, but I and my group of four other rejects were chosen by the very last guide. He was an old man who used a wooden cane to assist his walking. All the other groups set out into the forest right away while we took a stone path into their tourist trap town._

 _We came across a wonderful Resort. It had no name at the time, but our guide said that when he found who was to be his protégé, the resort would get to be named after them. He said that we would be staying there for a few days while he got us ready for the journey to the house of Nen. He told us to pick any room we pleased on the top floor. I was last to go up the stairs as I walked slowly to admire the décor and overall feeling of the establishment. It has a beach theme to it but also had a big city feel as well. It was a new feeling to be somewhere so nice for once. I had never been in a place so nice unless I was stealing or on my way to be thrown out._

 _"Girl," he called me from in front of the elevator. The others had gone up to the top floor leaving him behind t wait for me. "Care to tell me what happened to your shoes? Your skin is too fair to be an islander, so I'm sure you had a pair of shoes at one point," He points to my dirty feet and then crosses his arms. "Let's go get you some shoes," he held out his hand for me to take. I'm not sure what it was about this old fellow, but he seemed so nice. I didn't know why I felt so compelled to trust them man since I had trouble trusting anyone those days. You could understand why it was an odd feeling for myself._

 _After our few days at the resort, I was outfitted with black jeans, a midnight blue long-sleeve, some lovely hiking shoes and a grey cloak. I also had a detailed map of the whole island. We stood at the entrance to the forest. I learned who I was to be traveling with and which route we were to take. My travel companions were two men (Harley and Ronnie) and two women who were twins (Meesha and Nova). Our guide instructed us to call him 'Pops' but both the boys got away with calling him 'old man'._

 _We spent the first day walking through the light peppering of trees that made up the first part of Harbinger Woods. We walked all day and took breaks few and far in between. Pops stopped us at a clearing just before the thicket of the woods. He instructed us to get some rest while he set up the fire and went over his plans for the next day. I slept at the edge of the clearing in a tree. My past would never allow me to trust people near my sleeping form._

 _It was a dreamless night. I woke to see that Pops was looking over his plans. I jumped down from the tree and walked over to him. I sat on the other side of the papers laid out on the ground and watched him trace out his path he wanted us to take. "Can you use Zetsu?" He interrupted my focus on the map. I shook my head and looked up at him. He spent the whole day playing games to help me work on my Zetsu._

 _We walked through the thick woods and encountered many interesting wildlife. At one point we got spilt up. I was on my own. I had been lucky to see the map and knew which direction I was supposed to go. I had been using Zetsu as I walked through the tall grass. Although I was using Zetsu, I was still being followed. It really couldn't be helped since I was upwind of what was following. I heard a growl before I face planted on the hard ground. I had a weight pressed into each shoulder. I lay on the ground awaiting certain death._

 _The weight had moved and I heard a whimper. I sat up, dusted off my clothes and wiped the blood from my face. I turned to see an adolescent wolf pup. Well I thought he was a wolf at the time… It was a Harbinger Wolf. Practically the same thing as a wolf with a few key differences. A hard bone-like plate covered their head, their eyes usually glowered blues and greens, the ears were extra plushy and the bone-like plate sported some hearty fangs._

 _This young Harbinger Wolf was unique even for his kind. He was black as night. He had purple irises and his mane seemed to have silver feathers laced into it. He led me to where Pops was waiting. I was the first to make it through the dense part of the forest. He did not question my new companion at all. He simply waited for the rest of the team and we continued onwards._

 _The rest of the journey was much the same. Training and then journey. We would encounter creature documented and undocumented. It was a dangerous journey for the most part. We learned a lot of Nen. It was nice to learn, but what was always on my mind was 'Why isn't the master teaching us this stuff? Why was Pops teaching us on the way instead of taking us there right away?' I didn't give it too much thought. I was learning and that was the important part right?_

 _When we did finally make it to the house of Nen, a few other groups who had been there a while already greeted us. We settled in for the night. I had my own room, which I shared with Judge, my new companion. We stood outside the house of Nen, in the clearing beside it. It had training equipment and weapons along with wide-open space for sparring._

 _In the middle of the clearing stood a young man. He's wore a simple shirt and buttoned it up fully to support the elegant tie he was wearing. He had on black pants that were clearly meant for a suit. His shoes on the other hand were men's combat boots and did not fit the style of his other clothes. Black, short hair tight in a ponytail reveals a lean, wild face. Glinting blue eyes look over that students. "Run," his stern but silky voice commanded the large group._

 _We ran around the training yard until we couldn't function. I had dropped to the ground about halfway through the day. The hot sun was blazing overhead and beating down on our sweaty figures. It was torturous. Each day was a different method of training. It went on for two months; perhaps longer, after a while I had stopped counting._

 _We were called into the dining hall. The students had become less in number. There were about twelve of us. My entire team had dropped out near the beginning. They were pathetic. Pops stood at the head of the table with the master. I had figured he was, as he had been training us for many days. "Now, we have something to tell you all. First," Pops held up a finger. "I would like to commend you all for making it this far. I am very pleased to see some of you still here," He looks my direction. "Second, Training will only get harder from here. However, you will be training about once a week with the master. That brings me to my third point. I am the master of Nen." He waited as the shock left the room. "This," He lays a hand on his counterpart's shoulder, "Is my friend. He is a Kiriko. He takes a different form each year and pretends to be the master until I have worked out how I want to train each of you."_

 _I had been traveling with the Master all along. I had no idea a man whom was his age would ever be able to be a Master. I suppose that old saying 'with age comes wisdom' is not so far off. I remember being very upset that I was lied to. Pops had apologized to me many times over seeing that he had lost my trust. I did eventually come around when I had started earning praise for being the best at what I do._

 _After being under his expertise for five years, I was named his protégé. I still trained for most of the day every day. My life has been grueling training. I had nearly perfected the use of my Nen in the five years I was here. I had come up with four different abilities. The only four I actively use to this day._

 _Pops was getting to the end of his rope by the end of my training. He and I had become rather good friends. His final wish was for me to take the Hunter Exam, come back to the island, and claim the place as my own._

 **A/N: I finally have my tablet in working order, I have already drawn a few rough sketches of Akira and her odd creatures. I will link my Deviant Art** **account to my profile very soon. I want to thank you again for reading my story. Have a good day/night!**


	7. Reminiscing Over the Exam

**A/N: I have decided to update again today since I worked very hard and got all of this written out. I'm changing the pace of my story updates and am planning to update about twice a week if not a bit more. I have some great plans for this story that involve betrayal, heartbreak, mass-murder and good ol' fashion tomfoolery. Enjoy~**

 **[Disclaimer]: I do not own Hunter x Hunter or any of the characters. I do, however, own my original characters and plots. This story is written for entertainment purposes and do not necessarily reflect the views of myself.**

Reminiscing Over the Exams

Gon wakes himself before dawn. The fire is out and there is a heavy fog throughout camp. Killua sleeps against a tree a few feet from him. Gon scoots over to Killua and places a hand on the ex-assassin's shoulder. Killua's opens his eyes as if he had not been sleeping. "Killua," Gon whispers, "I have a bad feeling about this fog."

Killua shrugs his shoulders. "Gon, are you telling me that you are worried over a little fog? Two pro hunters like us don't need to be worried about this." He pats his friend on the shoulder and closes his eyes again leaving Gon to find some way to entertain himself until everyone else is awake.

He walks around the clearing for a few moments to stretch his muscles. He walks by the fire and looks at the almost cold embers. He turns to look at his friends. Koharu is in her hammock with Buyo laying underneath, Kurapika is sleeping curled up next to a tree, and Leorio is passed out a few feet from where the fire used to be. He looks at the tree Akira had claimed. Her large branch is on the ground and she is using it as a sort of bench.

Whether Gon would be welcome or not, he sits next to Akira on the fallen branch. "Hi," he beams at her. "Hello yourself," she is shuffling her cards absentmindedly while watching the leaves rustle around her. "You're up early today," she notes. "Oh, well I got this really bed feeling all of the sudden. When I woke up the fog was so thick. I guess since I had already woken up, I could not go back to sleep," he unnecessarily explains himself.

"They won't be up for a while. Care to play a game?" She holds out her deck of cards, "You can pick which one you want." He takes the deck from her and looks at the cards. Each card has a different animal on it. He thumbs through them until he sees an animal that holds great sentimental value to him: a Fox Bear. "Oh!" Gon holds out the card to Akira, "He looks just like my friend Kon from home!" She takes the card and looks at it, "Ah, a Fox Bear. Must have been interesting trying to befriend it huh?" Gon nods.

"We can play war. That's the only one I am good at, and that way I can look at all the different animals," He splits the deck and hands her half. She begins to shuffle her cards briefly while in thought. "These animals on the cards," she begins, "they are animals from the island." Gon's face lights up in wonder. You could swear that he was eighteen on the outside and twelve on the inside.

After the game is over, Gon being the winner, Akira begins splitting the deck into the two original decks. She counts all the cards and makes sure they are all in order. "Here," she holds out the deck of fifty-two cards and two jokers. "Think of it as a gift." Gon takes the cards and looks at them in awe. "These are really for me?" He looks up at her showing a huge grin. A light blush dusts her cheeks and she looks towards the extinguished fire. He catches her in a crushing embrace. Akira stiffens with surprise.

She looks towards Koharu, hoping she is awake and ready to help. Koharu still lays in her hammock, awake and watching Akira. She winks and waves and then pretends to go back to sleep. Gon lets go and looks through the cards. "Is this really the Master?" He holds out the joker. "She looks a lot like you, are you related?" Akira shakes her head; blush still present on her face. He tucks the cards away carefully into his jacket pocket.

"You're really nice Akira. Killua says you weren't that nice…" he trails off. Akira raises an eyebrow. "Ne, Killua is not very friendly to begin with, just ask Leorio. I think he was wrong about you though. You don't talk very much, but that doesn't mean you aren't nice!" He exclaims and stands up. "Thank you for the cards Akira. I'm going to return the favor, just give me some time to think of something ok?" She echoes his ok and he goes back to his spot.

Gon's outburst of gratitude had woke the rest of the sleeping teammates. Koharu packs up her things and carefully went over the map. She told them the direction they were all supposed to go through the dense part of the forest. "The forest is really foggy today but we can use this to our advantage. Should we get separated for any reason, you should head northeast towards the arid area of the island. Once you reach the end of the forest, you will see a large hill with a rather large cave mouth. Head there and wait outside."

"Yeah, I'll be heading out now. Meet you all at the cave." Akira stands, puts her backpack-like bag on and slowly walks into the forest. She waves and then disappears in the thicker part of the forest.

"Should we be letting her go on her own? She's a bit young. Didn't you say it was dangerous?" Leorio looks toward Koharu with concern written all over his face. "Just like you, old man," Killua crosses his arms. "You doubted both myself and Gon several times during the exam; several times during our ventures in Yorknew as well because we were so young."

"Unfortunately, Killua is on the right track." Koharu stands and gathers her things. "She is young but she could easily best me in a fight." She looks down at the ground, "in fact, she has."

"You and her fought? When?" Gon smiles and lightens the mood. "That means you have known her for a really long time right?"

"Well I can see its time for a story, but let's get started through the dense forest." She walks into the forest. "Akira and I took the Hunter Exam together." She waits while Gon gets over his awe and stops asking irrelevant questions. "During the third phase we had to fight. During the last phase, everyone had a death match. I was lucky to escape with my life. This was due to the fact I was not put up against Akira." Koharu looks down at the ground and tension fills the air.

"She used no technique at all," Koharu's expression turns to one of worry and terror. "She simply walked up as he was taunting her and beheaded him…" She stops looking deep in thought. "Koharu, you don't have to finish telling us." Leorio puts his hand on her shoulder. She seems to snap out of her trance. She smiles. "I was lucky. My opponent was an old man. I punched him in the chest and accidently stopped his heart. Akira congratulated me and we both went to collect our hunter cards and wait for the orientation."

"She pretended as if nothing happened; like ripping off someone's head with your bare hands is normal. It was horrifying. I met her in the beginning of the exam. She beat up some man who was trying to offer poison drinks to newcomers-" Leorio interrupted her with a loud laugh. _Tonpa deserved everything that came to him. As for doing horrible things and acting like it's normal… Killua ripped out Jonhness the Dissector's heart like it was nothing—he actually said he did a rather sloppy job compared to his father. He's annoying but not terrible. Whatever her reason for being this way, I'm sure it's a good one._

Koharu continued with her story, "Our first phase was relatively safe. It was a treasure hunt. You had to steal treasure from a monster's lair. It was very fun. It's the reason I hunt treasure. Our second phase was a beast hunter's dream. Catch an animal from off the list blah blah blah. The third was the matches where Akira and I faced off. We both passed. They said it was because we gave each other a fair fight and we both demonstrated good skills. I think they let me pass because they had no idea how great Akira was." She giggles and smiles. "The fourth phase was information hunting. Gave us a computer and told us to find some stuff. I didn't do too well but I passed."

"The last one was set up by a blacklist hunter who had this bloodlust gleam in his eyes. Horrible man, very scary." She shivers, "the look he gave each of us when we killed our opponent is one I won't soon forget."

"Don't worry Koharu," Gon walked beside her and linked his arm with hers. "You seem to have a very good friend by your side. She's very nice. She reminds me a bit of Killua—withdrawn with most people but has one friend they would go to the ends of the earth to protect. I met Killua during my exam. We have been together ever since." Koharu gives him a weird look and then turns towards Killua, "Together?"

"Oh! I didn't mean like that," Gon interjects quickly. "We have been traveling together since the Exam. We were apart briefly when he went back home, but afterwards we haven't really left each other's sides." Gon looks forward and smiles. "We went around exploring for a while since Leorio and Kurapika split ways with us. We went to many places all over. I decided I would be a beast hunter and Killua became a blacklist hunter. We go around taking turns doing missions. We make lots of money and buy lots of sweets." Koharu laughs a how passionate he gets.

The fog was still thick in the air. The ground was damp and had a 'just rained' smell. Koharu stops in her tracks and kneels down on the ground. She inspects a large paw imprinted in the ground. "We have to conceal our presences now," She whispers and stands up again. "We are about half way through. There are wolves nearby. They are very dangerous, as I have said before…" She trails off as she hears a loud howl. "Actually, let's skip the quiet! Lets go!" She runs through the forest with Buyo at her side, waiting every so often for Leorio to catch up. Gon and Killua race off ahead towards their destination. Kurapika runs beside Leorio just in case he gets separated from Koharu.

* * *

"Hmm… I wonder what I'll have for lunch." Akira takes a long drink from her flask. Today it was filled with lemonade-flavored water. She had put a flavor packet in there once she made it to the mouth of the cave. She sits in the shade against a cold stonewall. "Could go catch myself some food. Plenty of Rabbit Armadillos in this part of the area. Ferret Bats in the cave but those are not general food items…" She growls as she thinks about her food options.

"Rabbit Armadillo is probably my best choice. She set her backpack in the shade. "Naughty Kitty!" She feels her aura collect where it should. "Better keep this up. I'm faster like this and the added agility will help me make those sharp turns." She stretches her legs and arms. She squats and lets aura build under her feet. She jumps up, spins a few times to right herself and lands on the top of the mouth of the cave. She sits in wait.

* * *

Gon and Killua ran through the forest as fast as they could. Both the young hunters could easily take down anything, but Gon insisted that none of the animals get hurt. Killua listened to his friend because he didn't want to hear anymore whining out of his raven-haired friend. Gon ran unusually slow. He wanted to catch a glimpse of them. "Killua, slow down. The picture on the card looked really cool, I want to see a real one." He all but begs the ex-assassin. Killua sighs and stops. Gon stands next to Killua and listens to a loud icy howl. The footfalls get louder every few seconds. Gon gets into a fighting stance just in case he needs to counter an attack while Killua stands next to him with his hands in his pockets.

A black figure jumps from behind bushes and tackles Gon to the ground. Killua is about to rescue his friend when he hears the beast hunter laughing like a madman. Gon pushes the wolf off of himself and wipes the animal saliva from his face and neck. "A good hunter is well liked by animals," Killua muses. "Killua, look at him, he looks very different from the picture." Gon holds out the card once again. Killua looks at the card and then back at the wolf. "He's black instead of brown. His feathers are a silver instead of the usual colorful reds and yellows. He looks like a pet. There isn't even any dirt in his fur. His face is clean too."

Gon stands and pats him on the head. "Should we bring him with us Killua?" Gon looks hopefully at Killua. The ex-assassin sighs and walks in the direction they were heading before. Gon follows him and notices that he has a follower as well. "It doesn't matter if I say no. He obviously has a mind of his own." Killua stuff his hands in his pockets and sighs.

"Killua! Look!" Gon runs ahead as he points. The grass on the ground begins to turn to sand and the trees begin to spread farther and farther apart. They walk out of the last of the trees to meet with a large rock formation that has a large opening for the cave mouth. Gon looks back at his newfound friend to see that he's still there. "You bastard!" A feminine voice laced with anger rang through the air. Gon and Killua both turn to watch what is happening. Another flash of black crosses their field of vision at close to lightning speed.

"I will catch you!" The voice yells again as it races past again. Gon focuses his eyes to adjust to the speed. "Akira!" He yells to her. She skids to a stop. A small creature races past her a few times as if to mock her. She frowns and looks at both of the boys. Her eyes land on the harbinger wolf behind Gon. "Judge!" she kneels down and holds her arms out. The wolf walks towards her and sniffs her hand.

"This is Judge. He lives at the house of Nen. Haven't seen him in a while." She pats him on the head and stands. "Did he find you guys in the forest?" Gon nods happily. "He doesn't look like the picture on the card." He holds out the card. "Ah, well some animals here are different. I heard Beast, the man with the whip, brings animals like him here if he finds them out in the wild. Supposedly the special ones belong on the island rather than in a poacher's living room or on the black market."

"Well," she points to the Rabbit Armadillo that is sitting on a rock mocking her, "I'm going to deal with that. You can feel free to help any time." She takes off towards the creature catching him by surprise as her fingers brush the fur of its ears ever so lightly. The Rabbit Armadillo takes off again leading Akira on a hopeless chase.

"You would think she was an Enhancer the way she goes about it," Killua points out to Gon. Gon frowns at him. Judge gets up, crouches low to the ground and slinks along to behind a large rock. "Well, he's going to help. I'm going to help too. It looks like fun." Gon stretches his legs and goes to stand in the way of the Rabbit Armadillo in hopes that it will be too focused on Akira to really watch where its going.

Killua stands where he was watching this catastrophe play out. _Just like during our exam. Getting the ball from the old chairman. You could spend forever trying to catch it, but you never will._ Killua sighs as he watches Akira bump into Gon and send them both tumbling through the dirt. _I'll show them how it's done._ Killua steps out into the open area where he has a clear view of the mischievous creature. He walks up so that he is within ten feet of it.

He looks back to see Gon, Akira and Judge watching intently. It appears as though they are rather interested in how Killua will try to catch it. Gon feels that way anyways, Akira and Judge seem to be thinking about how he will inevitably fail. Killua walks slowly in a large circle around the creature. _I'll show you both how it's done. The Rhythm Echo is the only thing I need, well… along with my claws._

Killua starts his cadence of steps and afterimages of the ex-assassin begin to appear behind him until he has completed a circle around the Rabbit Armadillo. He modifies his fingers and turns his nails to claws. The creature looks nervously at each afterimage, unsure of which is the real one. The real Killua steps forward from behind the creature claws outstretched until they are buried in the creature's fur. Gon looks away with a sad look on his face and shuffles his feet awkwardly while both Akira and Judge walk up to him happily.

Akira holds out her hands as he gives her the bloody Rabbit Armadillo. Gon walks up slowly and keeps his eyes pointed at the ground. "Gon," Killua's harden expression softens immensely as he reaches out to lay his hand on Gon's shoulder. He looks at the blood on his fingertips and cringes. He puts his other hand on the raven-haired boy's shoulder and gives him a light squeeze as a sort of apology for going a bit overboard. Akira raises an eyebrow at the sudden show of affection but says nothing.

She walks to the edge of the cave mouth by her pack and sits down in the shade. She focuses her fiery aura into her hand she has the dead animal and begins to slowly try to cook it. _Slowly… not too much heat… I will not burn this. I will not let this incinerate. Control. Have some self-control._ The fur and skin slowly burn away as she begins to slowly cook the meat. Judge eyes the meat from afar and drools over the thought of having some. She holds the food close to her chest and growls at the wolf menacingly. He growls back to her but lays down patiently.

She hears the voices of the two hunters where she left them. She strained herself to hear their conversation but they kept their voices low enough she could not hear them. She waited patiently for them to finish their conversation that seemed rather heated and head over to the shade where she sat. She holds out an offering of a haunch, which was met by a slow shake of the head by the ex-assassin and a pained look from Gon. She looks at Judge, whom has inconspicuously scooted closer, and hands him a piece, being very careful as not to lose a finger to his sharp incisors.

The two boys sat father away than usual. Akira has seen them walk together closely, Gon sometimes even linking his arm with Killua's; they sat closely together and seemed to be their own little group within the team. Gon sat with his knees tucked and his head resting on them with a sadness. Killua sat facing away from Gon much the same way. They clearly were at some sort of disagreement that Akira wished to not be involved with.

* * *

Koharu, Kurapika, Leorio and Buyo run until they start to see the sandy ground of the arid area of the island. Koharu breathes deeply as she takes count that they are all together. She looks around to see deep scratch marks in the ground and a lot of dirt and sand have been kicked around. She shakes her head knowing exactly what went on. _Had to find some way to entertain yourself I see. Savage monster. Unfair of me to think; she was raised to be a savage. She is exactly as she is supposed to be: a wolf in sheep's clothing. Your seemingly wonderful disguise has already faltered once. I wonder how long she will get to go along with pretending as she is._

"Looks like Gon and Killua made it out safely," Kurapika notes as he points towards the mouth of the cave. He leans closer to Leorio as Koharu walks ahead. "Is it just me, or does it seem like something happened between the boys?" He points again to the boys who are facing away from each other with a good few feet between them. Leorio crosses his arms and thinks for a few moments.

Before the two enter earshot of the boys, Leorio gives Kurapika a sort of answer, "being together as long as they have, perhaps they just had some sort of fight. I'm sure they will get over it soon. What could they have possibly even done in the short time we have been separated?" He shakes his head with a sigh, walks to a shady spot and sits down. Kurapika settles next to him, pulls out two waters, hands one to Leorio and begins to slowly sip his own. They both notice that there is an extra creature in their group but decide it is not worth their time to notice another creature since their group keeps meeting new friendly critters.

Koharu sits next to Akira and steals some of the meat she is holding; 'Guide Taxes' she claims as she takes the whole thing from Akira. She stifles Akira's growl by giving her a swat on the back of the head as she sticks out her tongue. The blue-haired girl skips away deeper into the cave humming a tune. Akira stands and shoulders her bag. Each of the other teammates follow in suit and gather their things—the exception of Gon and Killua who have brought nothing they could not carry on their person.

They walk onwards a bit until Gon turns around, "Akira," he points to Buyo and Judge who sit outside the cave mouth in the sun watching them enter the dark of the cave. She walks and stands beside Gon. She says nothing while standing there beside him and seems to be thinking over her options. He takes this time to glance over at the pretty girl standing beside him seemingly deep in thought. She is a bit shorter than himself. He has to guess that she is most likely four inches shorter. He thinks briefly about her height compared to Killua's, whom is only two inches shorter than him.

A light breeze comes from inside the cave, making some of the strands of hair on her shoulders lightly whip around. She has her hand up touching her chin in thought. Akira's eyes are alight in deep thought. Their grey color glimmers in the shade. Gon is brought out of his admiration of another when she finally speaks up. "Judge, you know where home is. I have nothing for you and it's obvious you cannot come in here. Perhaps you can show Buyo where home is?" She lowers her hand from her chin as she speaks and holds it farther out towards the two canine creatures so it is clear she is addressing them.

Gon never noticed before—and perhaps he was still too dense to notice—Akira holds a sort of light in the dark for him. When he looks at her, she is all he can see. He remembers when she held out those cards for him. He sees how carefully she counted them out and held them out with a light pink dusting her cheeks. When she handed him the cards and their fingers met for only a brief second, he could swear he felt a sort of electricity shoot through his veins.

"Gon?" Her sweet voice calls to him. Gon turns around, sees that Akira is several paces ahead of himself and the rest of his group was nowhere to be seen. He grins sheepishly and chides himself for getting too lost in thought. He walks over to her and they walk together deeper into the cave. Akira whispers something under her breath and then walks more confidently onwards. Gon uses Gyo to see that she once again is using the aura that looks like a cat. _Maybe she can't see well in the dark like Killua and I can. She said she was a Transmuter; so using enhancer abilities isn't too unusual. I'll have to ask about her ability once we get to the house of Nen. I bet she knows some of the training they practice there!_

"Akira, what kind of training happens at the House of Nen? You have been there before, can you tell me?" Gon's voice retains childlike wonder as he harasses her for information. "It's pretty dangerous training. In the beginning it's mostly about physical abilities. You don't have to be good at all. When I went, I was quite bad. Later on, the people who have stuck around, physically skilled or not, begin to practice for the use of Nen." She holds her hands behind her back and smiles. "That's all I can say. I have already been there and practiced under the Master, so I can choose to omit myself from training."

"You won't be training with us?" Gon sounds a bit disappointed and looks down at the ground. "Not really beneficial for me to do so. Did you want me to?" She raises an eyebrow and looks at Gon questioningly. He nods enthusiastically. She laughs. Gon looks over, still using Gyo. Her aura whiskers bounce around naturally while her aura fangs show in the dark. The large purple aura ears, placed on top of her head, as a normal feline's would be like, perk up slightly. _She sure has an interesting ability. How does she make her Nen look so natural? Practice has a big part, but everything moves so natural. Her tail swishes as she walks and her ears move when she listens to sounds. It's astounding really._

"Akira," Koharu calls from farther into the cave. "Akira, don't use Nen. You will ruin the surprise!" Akira looks around nervously and recalls her aura. She reaches out and takes hold of Gon's sleeve as she walks cautiously. They see an orange glow from around the corner of a bend in the cave network. They get closer to see Koharu holding a lit torch. Kurapika, Leorio and Killua stand behind her looking slightly irritated.

Akira looks around and then slowly releases her grim on the green fabric of Gon's signature jacket. "Ok Akira. Go ahead and show them. Perhaps we could try for purple? The orange and red looks too much like fire. It's a bit boring. It would be no different than holding a torch." Koharu waves the torch around until it goes out. The cave is pitch black again. Gon can no longer see in the dark as his eyes were exposed to a bright light.

He hears a shuffling of feet and a deep intake of breath. The small lights appear along the cave walls and ceiling. They are very dim and purple. All but Koharu and Akira look on with awe. "It looks like stars!" Gon turns around several times slowly to look at all the lights. Akira breathes heavily a few more times and makes the lights a bit brighter.

The tunnel is now bright enough that they can see Akira with her hand on the cave wall looking rather tired. Koharu sighs and walks to the wall opposite Akira and do the same. Some lights begin to change color while some new lights spring into existence. Some lights are a violet-blue while others are a light blue. "Just a bit more Akira," Koharu strains to say.

The lights grow bright enough everything can be clearly seen with a tinge of bluish purple. Akira sits on the ground to catch her breath as Koharu leans against the wall. "The crystals in the walls of the cave collect aura and cycle it around each other. It lights the way for us." Koharu pushes off the wall and stands at the head of the group. "The more aura you put in, the brighter they get. It lasts a few hours," She turns around and begins walking onwards. "Once we reach the halfway point then we can take a break. Let's get going."

Gon reaches a hand out to help Akira off the ground. She takes it and helps hoist herself off the ground. She mutters a thank you as she begins to walk onwards. Gon looks around at the crystals, taking in their beauty as some change colors and glower with aura. He uses Gyo again and looks at Akira. She has a thin purple aura around her as if she was using Ten. He also notes that as she walks past, crystals grow bright and then begin to dim back to normal.

Akira gradually regains her breath and finds herself at the back of the group with Gon. She reaches down and picks up a rather large crystal laying on the ground. It glows a faint purple color. "Gon," she whispers, "hold this. Koharu is going to have you try it at the halfway point. Make it glow a color." He holds it and looks at it oddly. Gon inspects the crystal from different angles.

It was a milky white color with fragments that were clear like glass. _If I had to guess, the aura gets trapped in these clear parts and then feeds it to the white parts to make them glow. I could see the light without the use of Gyo, which is unusual. Can normal people see this light as well?_ "I'm at a loss," he begins and holds out the crystal in front of himself and eyes it carefully. "When you first learned Nen, how did it happen? Intense training or initiation?" She questions him. "Initiation. Our mentor, Wing, did it while we were at Heaven's Arena a few years ago."

"You remember how to tell what aura type you are?" He nods yes to her question. He understands why she asked and begins to perform Ren. The crystal begins to turn a slight green color. It is dull and barely glows, but at least the color is there. "The color can change for many reasons. I can currently create two different kinds: purple and flame. The flame aura I use flickers like real fire, ranging from yellow, orange, red or even white depending on intensity and emotions." She takes the crystal from him.

"This is called Shu," She envelopes the crystal in aura. "It is an advanced technique of Ten." The crystal turns a dull red. She increases the aura flow and it gradually turns bright yellow. He looks away from the mesmerizing crystal and notices that they are no longer with the group. "Now watch this." He looks over as the crystal turns bright white and he has to shield his eyes slightly. She relaxes and hands him the crystal. It now slowly changes from red to orange to yellow and back again since it is away from the aura source.

"We better catch up, I don't want Koharu poking fun at me," she picks up the pace slightly. "Akira," Gon gets her attention. "Can you tell me about your Hunter Exam?" She looks confused at his question but then slows her pace so she does not catch up with the group yet. "We should walk slowly, Koharu does not like to be reminded of the exams." She speaks a bit quietly.

"I met with a guide who would take me to the entrance to the exam. He was a nice old fellow, told me all about his grandchildren. It was an old tackle shop—for fishing and what not. I told him what the guide told me to, 'My game is big and the payoff is hefty. I'm on a trip, looking for a piece of plastic'. I thought it was funny because it blatantly meant I was looking for my Hunter's License," She laughs and shakes her head. "I sat on a boat for a while before we got to a small island."

"I was handed a badge with the number 413. We were first told to wait. I beat up some man offering poisoned drinks to people. I met Koharu and we talked a bit about why we wanted to be hunters. She wasn't sure what she wanted to be but she liked the idea of free travel. I was taking it because I was told to. I found it a bit boring actually." She takes a coin from her pocket and hands it to Gon. "We were told to steal a piece of treasure from one of the island's various monster dens. Many of them tried to take large pieces of treasure that were heavy. I snuck in quietly and picked up a single coin. Koharu picked up a silver tiara with jewels imbedded in the front."

"The second task was to catch a beast. We were handed cards with different pictures on them. Both Koharu and I were to catch winged-housecats. Just a regular cat with wings. Definitely not a challenge." She took a card from her pocket and exchanged it for the coin. She let him see for a moment before she took that back as well. "Koharu and I got to battle during the third phase. I mopped the floor with her, but they let her pass because they felt so bad that they put her up against me." She chortled and held her stomach. "They let her pass that phase because they wanted to set us up with opponents similar to us. I may look like her, but I was a lot stronger and more skilled."

"We got to information hunt for the fourth phase. I had to find information on a crime boss with very limited information. It was quite difficult until I broke down a firewall containing everything on the guy. The first four phases were boring, but the last phase was by far the worst." Gon cringes inwardly, knowing what she is going to talk about next. "We were set up to participate in death matches. Some creepy guy kept eying us each time we stepped into the ring." Gon readies himself for the gruesome details that were sure to come. He thinks back to the way Koharu was so afraid. He remembers seeing her look on the faces of Tonpa, Leorio and Kurapika during the Exam when Killua tore out that criminal's heart.

"I was up against a large brute of a man. He looked down on me and began to taunt me because I am a young girl. 'A young girl like you shouldn't be a hunter, I would tell you to go home and finish your tea party, but unfortunately I have to kill you,' but when I had not moved from my spot, he continued to taunt me. I ran up to him, jumped and landed with my feet on his broad shoulders and my hands on the sides of his head just below his ears," She stops and puts her hands on her head to demonstrate their position. "He looked up at me with fear in his eyes," she continues walking, Gon readies his mind for her details.

"I just straightened my knees and off came his head. His body fell forward on the already bloody ground and I landed on top of his back with his head in my hands. I stood on top of the body and lifted his head with my right hand in the air. The blood was dripping down my arm. The examiner smiled and clapped his hands slowly. He pointed me to the next room where I waited for Koharu. We went to orientation together and then she insisted I clean off my arm before the blood stained my skin." Akira patted Gon on the shoulder. "You don't have to be so afraid. I did what I had to so that I could pass and keep the other hunters afraid enough that I would not be targeted afterwards as an adversary."

Gon did not relax in the slightest after her words. _Transmuters seem to be dangerous all around. Killua doesn't kill anymore unless he needs to. She and him are very similar. Gifted in the art of killing. They kill and act like it's nothing. Just like today with the Rabbit Armadillo. Chasing it was fun; the goal was to catch it, not necessarily to kill it. I really shouldn't be so upset with him… I'll apologize to him once I get a moment alone._ "Oh, it looks like we have made it to the halfway mark. This is where Koharu is going to use you guys. Better go show up all your friends!" She pats his shoulder and walks next to Koharu.

 **A/N: Well, we got to see a bit about Akira and Koharu's past together. Have you noticed that I am in fact a filthy Homestuck?**

 **Anyways, I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. I have decided that I will aim to keep all of my chapters at least six thousand words, just so that there is more to read each time a chapter is uploaded. How do we all feel about Akira? I do want to know how you feel about her, Review or Pm. I'll update sometime during the week, then again on friday. Have a good day/night!**


	8. Now You Know…

**A/N: Well, the title really says a lot about this chapter. I hope that you enjoy it. I do not have much to say this week. I do however have three pictures of Akira done. I will be putting them up soon on my DA account.**

 **[Disclaimer]: I do not own Hunter x Hunter or any of the characters. I do, however, own my original characters and plots. This story is written for entertainment purposes and do not necessarily reflect the views of myself.**

Now You Know...

 _Focus. You already did this. You can do this!_ Gon places his hands over two crystals protruding from the wall. He focuses his aura into his palms and lets it seep into the crystals slowly. He pushes off the wall slowly and looks around the large cavern they have set up camp in. There are patches of light around the large cavern of dim green-lit crystals. Koharu applauds him but gives Akira a knowing look that Akira returns with a coy one.

Killua has been watching Gon with Gyo and begins to try his on his own. Many of the crystals begin to glow a light blue much the same as Koharu's from before. Leorio and Kurapika follow in suit and have a mixture of teal and orange-yellow. Koharu claps for them all. She walks to the middle of the cavern and takes hold of what looks to be a large brown tarp. She flings the tarp behind her and reveals a large crystal spire that is about fifteen feet tall with a diameter of ten feet at the very base.

"Everyone, please place your hands on the spire." Koharu waits and then places her own. "Unlike the others, this one will glow white. We are going to mix our auras and it will turn the color of the aura that is the strongest. Akira will be the one dictating its look." Akira begins to feed it aura. The spire glows a deep purple and gets brighter as everyone adds more aura. Akira gives it stronger aura than the rest of the group. It turns a bright white that is nearly blinding until she removes her hands and it fades to a comfortable white tinged purple.

Akira sits on the ground and then leans backwards until she in laying down. She puts her hands behind her head like a pillow and crosses one leg over the other. "Damn that takes a lot out of me. Koharu, I think I need a dip in the water." She gets up slowly and walks to her backpack. She rummages through until she finds her flask. She takes a long drink and then tucks it away again carefully. She digs around again and finds her black two-piece swimsuit.

Koharu picks out a dark blue one-piece that is somehow still incredibly revealing. They walk into a different part of the cavern through another tunnel. It begins to alight purple and blue as the girls disappear through it. Gon takes time to look at the spire and each of the crystals on the walls. Leorio and Kurapika take this time to rest. They chat idly about the crystals and the cave. Killua sits near a cave wall by himself. He looks like he is resting, but he is carefully watching his surroundings.

Killua scoots backwards until his back is touching the wall. He ignores his friends for the time being to focus on his feeling of apprehension. _Something feels off. We haven't encountered a single creature in here. Buyo and the wolf made a point not to come in the cave._ Kurapika had the same thoughts as Killua, that something was amiss. "Anyone else feel that?" He questions to the rest of the group. Gon turns towards the blonde; "I felt it a little while ago. Judge and Buyo looked really nervous as we entered."

"I'm not sure what it is, but its completely creeping me out," Leorio crosses his arms. "Well perhaps whatever it is, it won't get close enough to be a problem." Leorio makes a fair point, since many times they were to encounter something bad, it turned out to be less menacing than originally thought. "If the old man can sense it, Koharu and Akira did too. They said nothing to us," Killua points out coolly from his spot. Gon frowns and looks towards the tunnel the girls. _Aren't we supposed to be a team? Something that seems important like this shouldn't be kept secret…_

"Well maybe they didn't tell us because it isn't a big deal," Gon offers. _Stop lying to yourself. You saw the way Buyo and Judge looked at you. There was fear in their eyes. Koharu didn't look worried at all, so this must not be so bad right?_ Gon's reasoning for why the girls have decided to keep this from them is interrupted by a loud scream from the tunnel.

The four friends jump to their feet and run to the girls. Gon is the first to enter the room. The beauty of the cave momentarily distracts him. Crystals do not line the walls and ceiling but instead are under the water's surface, embedded into the rock walls. There are smaller spires underneath the surface in the center of the pool of water. They glow varying shades of purple and blue. Gon could stand and stare forever at this tiny paradise but there are matters more pressing he has to attend to.

Koharu stands at the edge of the pool in a fighting stance. Her suit is wet and she stands in a small puddle. Her hair clings to her shoulders as the clear water dribbles slowly, adding to the puddle. Akira stands about ten feet beside her in a fighting stance as well. She had yet to get in the water, her hair was still silky soft and her skin did not glisten with water. Gon followed their line of sight to try and see what had them so worked up.

Kurapika, Leorio and Killua stopped behind Gon. Killua and Leorio did the same thing as Gon and searched for danger from their place. Kurapika, on the other hand was distracted. He looked over at Akira. He saw the way she stood and how she seemed so fierce but that was not what distracted him from their current situation. He saw her body—or rather her skin, which had multiple pink scars that resembled flames. His eyes widen slightly as he takes in her appearance. He was not disgusted as most people would be, but instead found comfort in knowing exactly who the mysterious girl was.

 _You did exactly as was done for you. Found the group whom was least likely to achieve and stuck with them. Although… does that mean she thought we would fail without her? She is young… Perhaps she found interest in Gon or Killua. Nevertheless, she still smiles and acts like a normal young adult despite her childhood. I can see what I read was the truth and perhaps it was sugarcoated. What a horrible life._ Kurapika is snapped out of his thoughts upon hearing a menacing chuckle.

"Hisoka!" Akira yells. "You freaking creep! What are you even doing here?" The psychotic magician jumps down from a ledge and onto a large rock protruding from the water. "I came here the same as you, for a dip in the lovely crystal pool~" He coos from his rock. Gon cringes at the idea of having to see Hisoka again and his distrust of the man grows stronger by the minute. Kurapika glares at Hisoka, willing his eyes to stay their normal color—he didn't hate the magician, but was still very distrustful.

The dark-haired girl sticks her tongue out at the creep and crosses her arms. Hisoka jumps from the rock to the edge of the water a few feet from the angry girl. "Now now, don't be so cross. I wouldn't do anything yet. The fruit is still green~" He smiles a creepy smile and Akira looks at him with a horrified expression. _You are such a creep!_

"If it really bothers you that I am here, I can always leave~" He crosses his arms and leans in towards Akira. She growls softly at him hoping he would back away from her. Akira would take a step backwards or retreat all together, but that would show a huge weakness. "You're entitled to do what you want," she snaps at him. He frowns for a fraction of a second before schooling his expression into one of feigned happiness. He takes a step back and decides to go back to the rock protruding from the water.

"Koharu, let's go." Akira takes hold of her sopping wet friend's arm and walks over to their things. The soaked girl sticks her tongue out at the magician and provides a rude gesture to go along with it. Killua watches Hisoka carefully as they all begin to walk back to the main cavern. He feels protective of his team, although he has no idea why he cares about them—well he knows he will always care for Gon.

They walk quietly back to where they planned to camp for what they would perceive as night, since one knows no time in the darkness of a cave. Akira angrily drags Koharu who is clutching her things tightly as she knew the angry girl would not let her retrieve something that was dropped. The crystals in the walls turn white as Akira passes and fade to a deep shade of orange. All the pretty blues and purples turn to blinding white and then an angry orange-red color. Gon, feeling the smothering feeling of aura thick in the air, instinctively uses Gyo and sees the fiery aura around Akira and Koharu desperately trying to keep a thick layer around her wrist so she does not get hurt.

Akira releases the whimpering guide once they get to the cavern. She gathers her cloak and normal clothing then begins her walk to a secluded part to change into other clothing. Koharu does the same but a bit more quickly so she does not have to stay in the same vicinity as her angry pal. Koharu sits quietly by her things occupying herself with the map and other planning things for how they will continue their journey.

Kurapika stands from his circle of friends and excuses himself politely, "Please excuse me, I wish to speak with Koharu briefly." Gon hands Killua his gift cards to shuffle so they can play a game to pass time. Kurapika hears a quiet squabble over what game will be played but pays no mind to it and continues with his current task. He sits quietly next to Koharu and waits patiently for her to finish some notes and acknowledge him.

"Something on your mind?" She looks up briefly before returning to her notes. "I wished to ask about Akira. Or perhaps it isn't really a question." He crosses his arms and waits for her to look up at him. "I know who she is." The words Koharu dreaded anyone would ever say to her. _Lie! Do something! Say something! Don't just sit here and stare at him you fool! Maybe he could be talking about something else. Maybe he hasn't really put two and two together…_

"If I go talk to her alone, can you make sure nobody follows? I won't tell them. I just wish to have some closure perhaps?" His words dripping with sweetness as a way of persuasion. Koharu submits to his will and complies to keep the rest of the group from noticing his prolonged absence. She nods and walks over to the group of card playing friends. "May I join? I have the perfect game," she says coyly.

Kurapika walks inconspicuously towards the direction Akira went off to. He knows he is headed in the right direction when he feels the heaviness and smothering effect of her aura. The crystals on the walls are a red-orange and turn lighter the farther through the tunnel he walks. He makes it to a small cavern that is about ten feet tall (about 15 less than their camp cavern) and about twenty feet in diameter.

Akira doesn't seem to notice his presence yet and stays where she is. She is sitting with her back against the far wall and her knees tucked so she can rest her chin on them. Her eyes are closed and her fingers, sticking out of her fingerless gloves, are intertwined resting on the laces of her combat boots. Her velvet cloak hugs her shoulders loosely and cascades onto the floor.

The Kurta clears his through as he stands a few feet in front of Akira. Her eyes slowly open and she looks up at him. _Why must you bother me? Can't you see that I would like to be alone? That's what I would like to say… better made nice and humor him with conversation._ "Yes?" She sits up straighter, crosses her legs like 'crisscross applesauce', intertwines her fingers in her lap and gives him her full attention.

A bit taken aback by her abrupt change in temperament, he readies himself for unexpected consequences to his next actions. "I…" He thinks briefly. He sits down in front of her and mirrors her body language by crossing his legs and putting his hands n his lap. He takes a deep breath, "I know who you are." She seems to think for a moment before laughing heartily. "Of course you know who I am! I introduced myself to you guys at the beach." She cleverly dodged his declaration by acting oblivious.

 _Her act is great. She wont let me have this without a fight._ He looks at her smile, which is welcoming and warm; but her eyes are a different story. Hey eyes could fool anyone from afar and match her smile, but deep within them, in the inner workings of her mind, they clearly say: 'you don't want to do this'. _I wish I didn't want to do this, but this is the way. Those eyes chill to the bone._

He reaches behind himself and pulls the thin book out from his waistband. He opens it to recite an excerpt of the chapter 'Fire with Fire', "Actual flames were eventually used. My body scarred. Even as I write this book, I can see the faint flame-like markings on my body." He clears his throat and points to a few marks visible on her chest through her low-cut V-neck long sleeve. The coldness in her eyes is replaced by fire and rage. He sets the book down and puts up his hands defensively, "I have no intention of telling the others."

Akira's anger is quelled briefly at the notion that her secret will be kept. "Whatever reason you kept you secret, I'll honor it and be quiet about this." He holds the book out to her, "Do you want this back?" She shakes her head. "I left it in my old room because I wished to not see it again. I left it so that perhaps one day someone could better their life by reading it. So they could know that even gutter brats like myself can become something great." She looks saddened by the name she called herself, "People who are like myself, without family and hope, can still be something wonderful."

"Koharu is very much the same. No family," She stops herself, "That isn't exactly true, but it isn't my story to tell." She hold out her gloved hand and waits for Kurapika to return the gesture. She shakes his hand, "Now, not a word about this. So help me, I'll make you wish you hadn't been able to talk." He looks frightened and then nods. "There are many unanswered questions, you can ask them all once we get to where we need to go," She ponders her wording, "Or until everyone else figures it out on their own."

"Oh," Kurapika pipes up, "One last question. What was the deal with Hisoka?" Some of the crystals glow brighter and she frowns. "He knows. He was going to blow my cover. He already did, but he figured you would tell the others."

* * *

"Alright guys! Let's get a move on!" Koharu cheerily waits for the group to get a move on. Akira drags her feet but is the first one to make it there. Most of them did not sleep very well since Hisoka's presence was present throughout the network of cave tunnels. Akira did not sleep at all. She spent all of their rest time brooding all by herself. _Hopefully the blonde will keep his word._ She grabbed hold of Koharu's hand and looked the girl in her pretty blue eyes. Koharu knew what her friend meant for her to do, she used her specialist ability and began to read Akira's active thoughts. " _The blonde knows; he said he would not say anything to the others. Should I trust him?"_ Koharu nods, lets go of Akira's hand and begins to lead the group out of the cave.

Koharu takes the front with her team behind her—Kurapika, Leorio, Killua, Gon and then Akira—in a line since the passages have narrowed considerably. Koharu hums one of her favorite songs while fiddling with her map. Kurapika walks quietly while Leorio talks to him about nothing. Gon and Killua talk about some of their favorite adventures together during their five years away from Leorio and Kurapika. Akira shuffles her cards absentmindedly as she walks onwards; her mind deep in thought.

 _I could just tell them all now. It would be so much easier to get to my home. I could call Syn and just go there. What I would give to sleep in my bed again and eat some real food. I could finally get on with the real training too. I could get on with the damn treasure hunting bullshit Koharu begged be part of training as well. I suppose it merits a trip back to Heaven's Arena as well, since I am just itching for a fight. Maybe I'll actually follow through on our sparring matches for training. That might be fun, or it might turn out to be a disaster… I wonder what Koharu will pick for our hunt. She already gave orders to the figurehead as to what was to be done with the other groups…_

"Akira," the girl lost in thoughts was brought back with a loud plea of her name. Akira looks around to see Koharu looking at her expectantly. She offers a blank stare in the blue-haired girl's direction. "I was asking if we wanted to take a break yet. Since we have been walking pretty much all day." Akira looks around briefly. The sky is an orange color and the sun has just set. They are in dense forest yet again and seem to have been that way for a long while.

"Where are we?" She asks as she looks around trying to get her bearings. Koharu shows her the map and points out where they are. "Oh, we are by the ring lake. We can walk until we get there right? I never did get to enjoy the pool in the cave, and the water there is relatively safe." Akira points to a spot on the map that looks like a large lake with a large island in the middle. The water goes all the way around the island in a very large circle. The lake was about one hundred feet wide all around the island.

"It will be dark by the time we get there… You remember what happened last time right?" Koharu gave Akira a look and the raven-haired girl looked to the ground a bit ashamed. "What happened last time?" Leorio questions as he steps a bit closer to Koharu hoping she will explain. "Kuala-Dile. They come out at night but don't usually leave the water. They sleep on the warm sands of the island during the day, but at night they slip into the water and occasionally cross to hunt on this side. We will be sleeping in the trees tonight. I do not trust this place." Koharu crosses her arms and adopts a forlorn look.

They set off towards their designated camp in the waning light. Koharu still hums along to an unknown song and Akira keeps herself busy shuffling her cards as she walks at the back of the group. Gon talks to Leorio about Nen and tries to explain a bit more of the four principles. Killua shakes his head each time the older male does not understand something. The Kurta walks on quietly in thought. He can't begin to understand anything about Akira. Kurapika hates to admit this, but she had been on his mind all day. He mentally cringes. _If I was a fool, I'd believe I was infatuated. Definitely not my type._

* * *

Killua sits on a thick branch in his tree he claimed. Gon chose a tree next to his so that they could still talk and play games until they wanted to sleep. Koharu made sure to go to bed early so she wasn't a grump in the morning. Leorio sleeps in his designated tree and went to bed early like Koharu for very much the same reason. Kurapika reads Akira's book, the part about her Hunter Exam. He remembers what Gon told him and knew Gon left out many details. He felt that he would get the words straight from the horse's mouth. Figuratively speaking anyways.

Akira hangs upside down from her branch by her legs as she plays an asinine game with her Nen. She has a hand full of leaves and uses the other to throw them at a tree. She uses her Nen to turn them razor sharp and throws them like throwing knives. She tries to make a smiley face with the leaves but fails miserably. Gon stops his games with Killua and hops over to her branch. When he jumps on the branch, Gon startles the inverted teen and she throws a leaf surrounded by too much Nen. She cuts clean through the tree and it slowly begins to tip over.

The tree comes crashing down to the ground. Birds fly away, squawking angrily. A few deep growls can be heard and can easily be placed as the growl of a Kuala-Dile. Koharu jolts awake at the sound and searches for the source. Constantly using Gyo, she quickly spots the upside down cat ears a few trees away. "Akira!" She yells into the night, "Dammit! Some of us are trying to sleep!" She stands up and reaches for a large unripe fruit from the tree she picked. It looks like a mixture between an orange and an apple.

She reaches her Nen until it engulfs the fruit. She aims steadily and hurls the fruit towards the branch Akira and Gon occupy. Gon sees and quickly hops out of the way and onto his tree. Akira, hanging upside down had nearly no way to evade. Koharu had impeccable aim and hit where the branch connected to the tree, breaking the branch off the tree and Akira with it. She lands softly on her feet. She walks to the other side of the tree to pick another place to stay for the night quietly. Gon laughs when he sees Akira stick her tongue out at the now sleeping Koharu.

"Sorry Akira," he whispers from his tree. Killua laughs at his apology. Akira waves at him to say it's not a problem. She walks to the end of her branch and leaps over to Gon's. Killua watches and stands as well. He jumps to the branch as well on the other side of Gon. They all sit with their legs hanging over facing the water. "I'm really sorry Akira. Can you show me how you did that with the leaves?" Gon asks innocently as he hands her a leaf.

She uses Shu to harden the leaf and make the edges razor sharp. She tosses it lightly into another tree, making sure not to repeat the previous accident. Gon grabs another leaf and attempts to do the same thing. After a few tries, he finally gets a leaf to stick into the tree. Gon hands a leaf to Killua, "Try it." The silver-haired boy takes the leaf and tries to get it to stick into the tree. He throws it at a branch to see if he could get it to stick. The leaf cuts the branch clean off and hears a grumble of curse words from a few trees over.

The three laugh as they continue to practice with the leaves. Akira grabs Gon's sleeve and points to below the tree. By this time in the night, even Gon cannot see in the dark. Akira can see thanks to her perfected aura technique but knows that the others cannot. She holds out her hand in front of her and closes her eyes. A medium, hollow, glass ball appears in her palm. It is the size of a tangerine and the glass looks thin like a Christmas ornament. A small flicker of flame appears inside and soon begins to fill the ball. It looks like liquid fire and moves around inside as one would perhaps think of a soul move.

"Do either of you have a string?" She asks quietly. Gon remembers his new fishing rod. Kurapika has the bag that holds his pole. The Kurta must have heard her because he held out the bag when Gon hopped over there. He took out the fishing pole and went back to his branch. The ball of fire works like a lantern and lights everything around them aglow. The ground is still very dark and now has more shadows thanks to the difference in light.

Akira takes the lure on the end and ties it around the glass ball. Gon slowly lowers it towards the ground. His eyes widen when he sees about six Kuala-Diles under the branch. Killua leans forward to look, "It's a good thing that Koharu told us to sleep in the trees. I didn't even hear them come up." Gon snickers at his friend and retorts, "Maybe your assassin skills are just getting a little rusty!" This earns him a punch in the arm.

Akira stands and holds out her hand. She quickly curls her finger in to make a fist. There is a sound like that of glass breaking. Gon looks down to see liquid fire jump every which way where the glass ball once was. A few yelps can be heard from the awaiting predators and then the sound of hurried retreat. She jumps to her branch and leans against the trunk of the tree.

She conjures a slightly smaller glass ball of fire and holds it in front of her chest as she tries to fall asleep. Gon and Killua both try to get some rest as well, making sure to stay secure off the ground. Gon looks across from him at the incredible girl. Her face and features softly lit by the ball of fire in her hands. Her face relaxed and peaceful as she reaches the nirvana of sleep. He watches her as the flicker of the fire shines in the night. He sighs for no particular reason and closes his eyes to fall into the sweet arms of sleep.

* * *

Koharu wakes up to the smell of fresh cooked food. She sits up quickly and looks around. She spots the source of the delicious smell and slinks around beneath the trees to sit by a small fire. Akira sits there with a large chunk of meat on a stick roasting over the fire as if she were roasting a marshmallow. Koharu sits and looks at her with the sweetest puppy dog eyes. The other girl hands over the stick, claiming that it was for Koharu anyways and that she has already had her share.

The rest of the team who eat their fill soon join the two girls. "Alright guys," Koharu holds out the map for them to see. "We better stock up on water. There is no more until our destination." She points out their trail. "There is another body of water right there…" Gon points to a rather large body of water about six miles to the northwest. "Tsk… you drink that water if you want. Don't complain when your throat melts and you die a slow, painful death." Akira deadpans while shuffling her cards.

"What Akira meant to say, was that this lake is named 'Caustic Cistern' and that it is essentially a lake of acid," Koharu explains while sending a glare towards her indifferent friend. _Damn girl doesn't know when to be nice and when to be indifferent. She changes moods like a diva changes boyfriends._ "Just make sure to carry enough water for three days. The last bit of the trip will be easy. We walk a few miles through a desert, one last part of forest, a flat path between foothills, and finally a walk up the ten thousand steps."

"Ten thousand steps?" Leorio asks with a hollowness to his voice. "Yes, exactly ten thousand. The new master hand them installed recently. She said that the stairs looked really nice from her balcony. Oh, she also said that they really gave the place a feel of an actual training studio. They are very nice; made of polished stone. Every thousandth step is made of dark marble and has an idiom engraved on the vertical part." Koharu pulls out a map of the mountains where the House of Nen is located. She has a rough sketch of what the steps look like from the balcony looking down.

The four boys look on in awe. Gon is the first to notice, "You can almost see the whole island from that balcony right?" Akira smiles. "From the roof, with a telescope, you can see the Resort we stayed in. Without it, you can see about forty-three miles in each direction." Killua raises an eyebrow at her. Her smile shifts back to neutral and her face is schooled into an expressionless one.

"Well, we better start soon. Gather enough water and then we can be on our way." Koharu stands and packs all her things up. She waits patiently for her team to join her.

* * *

The night sky was alight with millions of stars. The wind was calm but strong enough to whip up the powdery sand every once in a while. The sand is a pale color, which in the right light may even look like snow. Six young hunters walk through this harsh environment. A chipper girl with blue hair leads a calm blond, a moody doctor, a whiny ex-assassin, a happy-go-lucky islander and an aloof sham of a student.

They walked onwards until late into the night. After a long while, they all decide to call it a night and lay under the stars. Koharu, having seen the view many times before fell asleep as soon as she lie in the soft sand. Gon and Killua marvel at the stars. They have lived outside like wild animals many times during their five years together, but they have never seen stars as beautiful as these. They both laugh at the though that they see the same stars every night, but never this clearly and brightly. In short, they were completely and utterly amazed.

Had not been able to decide whether to be amazed as the boys or sleepy like Koharu. He soon followed Kurapika's example to lay on his back to watch the stars until sleep soon claimed him. Killua and Gon soon decided to do the same so they could watch the stars and make them the last things he sees. They would have been the last things he saw, but he was damned to look over at the sound of a crinkling paper.

Akira holds a small paper in her hand and quietly scrawls some unknown things on them. He looks at her eyes as she glances towards the sky briefly. Her grey eyes reflect the stars in the sky, making it seem as though she held the whole galaxy within her gorgeous eyes. In a way, he did see the stars and galaxy as he fell asleep, but instead saw them in a more beautiful place: the captivating eyes of a raven-haired beauty.

Akira rose quietly. She set the note in Koharu's guidebook, sticking out like a bookmark. She shoulders her backpack, picks up Koharu's water bottle and takes a large swig. She immediately regrets the decision and nearly spits the liquid. It burns as it travels down her throat. She coughs into her elbow to muffle the sound. She gives a good long glare to her sleeping friend before she turns towards their designated destination. She could see the light on the balcony of the house of Nen.

"I'll be home soon," she mused quietly. She walks off, leaving nothing but disturbed sand behind her. After about ten minutes of walking, she begins to hum a small tune. Akira was quiet happy with the weather of the desert. The air was a bit less than body temperature with only a slight breeze. She wore a black long sleeve shirt and black hybrid jeans made of cotton and jean material. She had on her black combat boots and fingerless gloves. The regal hair that fitted her face and hung just below the bottoms of her shoulder blades swishes softly in the breeze.

"You will be home soon?" less of a question and more of a parroted phrase came from behind her. "Hmm," Akira did not turn around, knowing fully well who it was. "I should have known I was being too loud with my coughing."

"I had not gone to sleep just yet. I saw you take a swig of that. Found it quite funny actually." Silver hair could be seen out of the corner of her eye as she walked onwards to her destination. "You have been deceiving us the entire time then?" She nods at the idiotic question. _It was quite obvious wasn't it? I'm honestly surprised you had no idea until now. Even Blondie took a long time to figure it out and I had thought for sure he was smart since he did find some rather useful information on me._

"You all are quite a bit slow. How about you do me a favor," She looks over at him to see an expression as confusing as the ex-assassin himself. She expected angry, but what she got was pure wonderment. Killua was actually quite surprised that she was the Master. "I would suggest that you not tell the remaining two," she warned. He walked with her silently for a few moments before he finally spoke again.

"I won't say anything. I think Gon would be upset with me if I ruined your little surprise, so I will play along for just a bit longer." Akira smiles at his reason for keeping the secret. "Well," she begins in her usual indifferent voice, "you should go back. I'm only leaving now because it was taking too long. I would have made it there along about two days ago." She stops when Killua does. She turns to him, "I'll see you all at my home. Be ready for some luxury." She turns and begins to walk onwards once again.

Killua turns back to where his team sleeps quietly. _I knew something was odd about her. At least now I know why her and Koharu were such great pals. I also know why she was so bothered over the Hisoka incident. He probably knows as well. I wonder who else knows. Gon has no clue. Leorio could know, but they have not had a chance to talk alone where she would swear him to secrecy. Kurapika would be the likely choice. He must know as well. All I can do is wait to get there and see how things turn out from there. Somehow, I do not feel like this is going to be as fun as Gon makes it out to be._

 **A/N: Well, How did we fell about this chapter? I tried to make it really obvious who she was in the beginning chapters, but if you had no idea, I hope you were as** **surprised as they were. Have a good day/night!**


	9. House of Nen Knows No Secrets

**A/N: Hi everyone, I hope you have had a fantastic week and have an even better weekend! I think this is a chapter I quite enjoyed writing, since I got to include a bit of sarcasm. I hope that you enjoy, I do not have much to say this week for nothing quite interesting has happened as of late. Enjoy~**

House of Nen Knows No Secrets

Akira opens her eyes to see a ceiling painted black, with an exact representation of the stars and galaxy that can be seen over the desert area of the island. She sits up and looks around. Her legs are covered with a plush blanket, she wears a tank top and short shorts. The walls of her room are painted white with purple swirls that match the deep purple carpet on the floor. "Kurse!" She hollers at the top of her lungs. A meek knocking on her door is heard a moment later before a young woman whom looks exactly like Akira, with squinted eyes and a wry smile, pokes her head into the room.

"Who has already made it here?" The doppelganger holds up five fingers. "Alright, I will begin their first task today. Can you perhaps call them into the main room as I get ready?" She thinks for a second, "Wait, can you also please change. I really don't like the idea of you walking around looking like me. Especially since you are a boy." The form of the Akira look alike begins to shift and change.

"Of course Mistress Akira. How is this?" A young man opens the door and steps inside. He has long black hair to his shoulders and a dapper suit matching in color. His eyes were still squinted just the same and his wry smile never left his face. He stood a bit taller than Akira. He was lean but capable. "How did I ever end up with a Kiriko working for me?" She very quietly mused. They Kiriko, Kurse, hears her remark and laughs quietly to himself before he goes to get the five applicants up.

She stands from her cushy bed made for a queen and walks over to her closet to look at her clothing options. She decides to change her shorts for the pants of her full-body training suit but keeps her black tank top on. She quickly laces up her combat boots and rummages around in her drawers until she finds her lovely cat mask. Everyone would instantly recognize her as the Master's protégé wearing it. She tied the black velvet ribbon in the back to secure it in place.

She looked around her room that had been cleaned while she was away. It still held the scent of her perfume and the smell of fresh paint. She thinks that perhaps they retouched the trim while she was away. She would have to remember to thank Kurse for the effort of keeping her place in order. She opened the door and walked down the hallway past a few empty rooms. She made her way to the main room.

She should perhaps clarify and say that the main room is actually quite like a throne room. The large marble throne with black cushions. The end table next to it had a crystal goblet that was already filled with a clear bubbling liquid. _Damn, Kurse is on top of shit today. I wonder what he broke while I was gone._ She leans to one side and crosses her legs nonchalantly.

Five people soon filed into the room and stood before her throne. She looked them each up and down and very thoughtfully. She noted Hisoka right away and made damn sure her eyes did not linger. She next set eyes on a tall man with dark hair whom had half of his shirt un-tucked. He stands next to a muscular young man dressed in a standard karate gi. Next is a bald ninja who seems very overly eager to be here. Lastly, she lays eyes on a blond man with bright green eyes. She feels slightly off-put about the last man; less so than Hisoka, but still enough to be unnerved.

"Welcome. Although I am not the first to welcome you, I hope that mine is the most important." She sits up and sets down her glass. Her furry mask gives her a means to hide, because that is all she wishes to do currently. This is her very first year without her master to keep her on track. "Now…" Her voice wavers slightly. She takes a deep breath. "I have an assignment for you all. You may choose to do this alone or in pairs." She reaches over and pulls out a small piece of paper.

"Your task is to find a specific item on my island. I have a list along with the general location." She stood and handed a photo to Hisoka. It was a crystal ball of sorts. It seemed to have a wispy black mist contained within. "The Sinful Soul. Located at the bottom of Caustic Cistern." She wanted so badly to laugh at him, but kept herself composed.

"What is your name sir?" She asked the man with the half un-tucked shirt. "My name is Wing. This is Zushi. We will be going together." He answers her happily and sets a hand on Zushi's shoulder. Akira nods and hands him a photo of a crown made of malachite. It has black gemstones on it and a black rim. "The Malachite Crown of Tempest. The highest mountain on The White Highlands mountain range. Lucky you." She says the last part with real enthusiasm since the crown was rather easy to get, provided one had enough endurance and warm clothing.

She stepped to the side until she was standing before the bald ninja. He took a bow before introducing himself, "My name is Hanzo, Master." Akira could not help but smile slightly at his enthusiasm to be here. "Dear Hanzo, do you know of a place called 'The crystal palace'?" He thinks briefly before nodding his head slightly, a bit unsure of himself. "You are to find the Crystal Tiara. It was crafted from the purest of Nen crystals."

She steps before the blond with green eyes. "Shalnark." He holds out a hand. She takes it and shakes it with a smile. "The Jasper Monolith of Thieves. Located in the desert just south of Centipede's Circle." She turns and sits back on the throne. "Kurse will give you maps to each location. Please be careful for it seems that I will only have nine students this year. It is rather disappointing."

The five head off in the direction she can only assume Kurse has scampered off to. I better go check on my new arrival. She stands and begins to walk her way out to the training yard. She steps out of the large black doors and onto the plush green grass. She is happy to see that her Kupraine, Buyo, had made himself comfortable in the shade of a tree. Judge lays on a plush doggy bed in the raised Gazebo.

Akira walks a bit farther from her house and looks up towards her spot on the roof. Sure enough, she saw a large black ball of fur lazing in the sun. Syn kept himself comfortable while she was away; and by the size of his belly, she can only assume that Kurse has been feeding him extra. _Damn fat thing. He probably has problems flying. He will get some exercise on my way back to heaven's arena with my students. Sleep now you lazy thing._

Akira lays in the soft grass and looks up at the blue sky. She watches as clouds meander past. She is deep in thought once again. She thinks of everything, yet nothing at all. She wonders why there are so few students. Her master always had at least thirty before real training began. "Oh well," she muttered to herself. She watched as the sky went from light blue to a deep purple to black. She would have stayed out on the grass all night if not for the pestering Kiriko.

He continually told her about dinner and that it was becoming cold. He then complained that she would not get enough sleep if she stayed in the dining hall for too long. He was like an overprotective nanny. Akira really did appreciate him though. She remembers the first time she met him.

He wore nice clothes when he commanded everyone to run. The first day at the House of Nen, she was ran like a dog. Akira always held a high respect for the Kiriko, and was very happy to have him around now even though her master was no longer there. He took care of her and made sure to spoil her royal.

Akira lies in bed for a while before she decides to get back up. She throws on her cloak over her black sweats and long sleeve. She quickly slips on some shoes and walks to the glass double doors opposite the room to her bed. She walks onto her balcony and looks out over her island. She can see the faintest glow—almost the size of the head of a needle—originating from Chimera Lion's Pass. A straight pathway between two different ranges of foothills that is inhabited by the fearsome Chimera Lions.

She walks to her left and grabs hold the bottom of a rope ladder. She hoists herself onto the roof of the House of Nen. She hears a faint growl originating from a lazy blob of fur. Akira ignores her pal in favor of sitting on the highest part of the roof with her telescope. Her telescope is quite amazing; she purchased it at an auction just for hunters. It could view up to one hundred miles and had a night vision mode. The telescope was damn expensive, but it was worth it.

She zooms in until she can see the flames flicker with such detail she could have been there. She looks around until she sees Koharu laying on a patch of grass clutching her bottle of 'water'. She looks at each of her teammates—or now her students since she is almost officially their Master. Kurapika reads from her book near the fire, Leorio sleeps soundly like Koharu (she may have even shared her alcohol with him), Gon is playing with his cards by himself (he looks like he is just sorting them and looking at the photos) and Killua sits secluded from the group and looks around.

Killua looks at each of his teammates before saying something. Gon looks at him and crawls over on his hands and knees to sit beside him. The silver haired boy points directly at Akira. She realizes that he may not be looking at her—how could he know she is even up there at this moment. She thinks for a moment before walking down to her balcony and grabbing a flashlight. Akira quickly climbs back up and looks through the scope again. She takes the flashlight in both of her hands. She uses one to hold it still and the other to click the on button.

She flashes it a few times to get their attention. Gon's face lights up in surprise. She remembers a bit of training and clicks it a few times. Akira hopes that one of them knows Morse code or she would feel like a fool.

"…. . .-.. .-.. - .-.-.- …. - .- .- .-. . -.- - ..- ..-.." (Hello. How are you?) Akira flashes something really easy at first. Killua says something to Gon and the raven-haired boy gives a thumbs up with a large grin. She watches as Gon asks Killua something and then gets up and walks over to the Kurta. The blonde points to his bag and says something. Gon digs around for a bit before pulling out a long rectangular box.

He pulls out a glow stick. He cracks it and it begins to glow a brilliant blue color. Gon hands it over to Killua. Killua waves it in the air for a second before forming the letter 'H' and then an 'I'. Akira smiles and then flashes the flashlight again, "-. - - -.. .-.. ..- -.-. -.- .-.-.-" (Good Luck.) Killua tells Gon what Akira said and then waves the glow stick again, 'Thank you'. Akira laughs, the 'N' and 'K' are backwards. She thinks for a second; Killua must be writing everything backwards for her to be able to see it, so he must really be putting effort in this.

Gon says something to Killua excitedly and he rolls his eyes. 'Gon can't wait to get there and meet the master' Gon nods enthusiastically. Akira laughs. Her surprise is sure to be a big one. She holds up the flashlight again, "… …. . -.-. .- -. -. - - .- .- .. - - - … . -.- - ..- . .. - …. . .-. .-.-.-" (She cannot wait to see you either.)

Gon takes the glow stick from Killua and makes a smiley face with it. Akira flashes her flashlight again, "-. - - -.. -. .. -. …. - .-.-.-" (Goodnight.) The two boys wave to her. She sets her telescope down and takes her time getting back to her balcony. _It's nice to be able to talk to people my own age. It's nice to see people somewhat like myself. I would one day like to be able to call them my friends._ She looks out at the night sky before retiring to her bed. _Master, I chose some good students this year. I think you would really like them._

* * *

"I didn't know you knew Morse code Killua! What is she saying?" Gon asks excitedly. "She is asking how we are." Gon nods and gives her a thumbs up and a huge grin. "How can we tell her something back?" Killua thinks for a second and instructs his friend to get a glow stick from the Kurta. "She can't hear us, but my guess is that she can see us very well. Either some sort of ability or perhaps a very good telescope or even binoculars."

Gon cracks the glow stick to reveal its blue color and hands it to Killua. 'HI' he writes slowly. "She says, 'Good Luck.' She can definitely see us very well." 'Thank you' he writes back to her. "Killua, can you tell her that I'm really excited to meet the master?" Gon wants to write it himself, but has a feeling she would have no idea what he is saying. "Fine," Killua writes Gon's message. "She says, 'She cannot wait to see you either'." Gon snatches the glow stick from Killua and makes a smiley face. He laughs a little. "She says 'Goodnight' I think she's going to bed. We should do se as well." Killua and Gon wave towards the direction of the light.

They each find a comfortable spot to sleep in and drift away. Koharu's group would arrive tomorrow very tired. After a walk up ten thousand steps, they would certainly be begging for a break.

* * *

Akira wakes to a quiet knocking on her door. "Mistress Akira, the last of your guests have arrived," Kurse calls from the other side of the door. "Alright. Let me get dressed. I'm thinking champagne today," She calls from her bed. She sighs and gets out of bed. She puts on her usual clothes, black training suit plants, a black long sleeve, black fingerless gloves and black combat boots. She always wears black, "I always wear black to remind you that I am always dressed for your funeral," She mutters in the mirror as she brushes her silky hair.

She slips on her silver cat mask and ties the black ribbon. She steps out of her room and walks to the main one. She can already feel the tension rising. _Stay calm. You already know them. It is no different than the way you talked to them before._ She sat on her throne, crossed her legs and took the champagne in her hand. "Kurse, please send them in," Akira calls out to her Kiriko friend.

Kurse opened the door and held it as four students and one guide walk into the room to stand before the throne. "Koharu," her voice silky but thick with apprehension, "Thank you. Will you please come stand beside me? Have some champagne." Koharu steps up and takes the bottle of alcohol before standing to the right of the throne.

Akira stands and crosses her arms. She looks at each of the boys; Gon full of joy, Killua quite indifferent, Kurapika tense but calm, Leorio quite confused. "Congratulations on making it here. You are four of the nine." She takes a deep breath and calms her mind. "You will begin training as soon as the five other members return. You are free to eat what you want, just ask Kurse for anything you require."

Gon speaks up quietly, barely holding in his excitement, "Master of Nen, I'm so excited to be here. May I ask one thing?" Akira nods, the fur on her mask moves slightly at the action and the jewels sparkle in the light. "My friend came here before us. You said when the other five members get back, where did they go?" Akira thinks about his question very carefully.

"What is your friend's name?" Her voice practically dripping with honey. "Akira," he tries to find some words to describe her. "She has black hair, and she is a bit shorter than I am. She wears black and combat boots… sort of like your boots…" He looks up to her face. The silver cat mask obstructing his view of her face, he sees her eyes. The same beautiful eyes from the night in the desert. Akira puts a hand on her mask as the other pulls the ribbon.

Akira slowly removes her mask and lets it drop to the floor with s soft clink as a few jewels touch the marble floor. "Does she look like me?" She points to herself innocently. "Kurse, do you know anyone who looks and dresses sort of like myself? I could have sworn I knew someone-" her sarcastic question was interrupted by a crushing hug from the raven-haired hunter.

"This was a great surprise Akira." He releases her from his iron grip. He turns to see that the only other person who is surprised is Leorio. "Did you guys already know?" He points to Killua and Kurapika. He frowns but Akira lays a hand on his shoulder, "Don't be upset with them. I made them promise no to tell." Leorio grumbles something about trustworthiness but nobody pays any mind to his anger.

"Well. I suppose we can get down to business. Since you all know," Akira muses and she sits down and picks up her glass. "I have a dining hall we can all talk in. Please," She stands, "Follow me."

They follow her through the halls. All the floors are made of black marble and the walls are a pearly white. There is a grey carpet over the marble floor for people to walk on. The light fixtures were an ornate silver and looked to be the same sort of crystal from the caves although they did not glow any color, they were just white. "This place is really something," Kurapika whispers to Leorio, who has a frustrated response, "I told you the world was built around money. Imagine what this place must have cost."

They walk into a dining room with many tables. They were nice dark wood with white tablecloths covering each. Akira chose to sit at a long table at the head spot. Leorio and Kurapika chose the side to her left while Gon and Killua chose the seats to her right. "Well, anything you all want to ask. I'll answer anything and everything to the best of my ability."

"Why?" The question came from Leorio. She gave him a look to say 'go on'. "Why pretend to be a student? Why not just come out and say you were the master?" She gave it some thought to keep her words correct. "Would you have believed me on the beach when I asked to join your group?" He shook his head. "What about when we were playing games with Zetsu?" He shook his head again. "Won't this experience always be a bit special to you?" He nods.

"A long time ago, when I first came to this island, I was homeless and a gutter brat. My guide, Pops, was the Master." Akira looks down for a second. "I will always hold him in a high regard, this experience teaches the ability to learn for peers. You had no idea I was the master, so you would be more inclined to listen to Koharu correct?" She waits for everyone to nod. "I was pretty knowledgeable, so you all took some insight from me as well."

"Can you tell me the information you have on the Spiders?" Kurapika spoke next, his eyes turning a dull red on the edges. "I have fought with them a few times. Mostly just for a good laugh. They seemed to realize that as well. I don't know where they are or who they all are. To be honest, I used to just play jokes on everyone." Kurapika looked very disappointed. "If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know." The blond shook his head.

"Any other questions?" She looked around the table. "When will we get to start training?" Gon beams at her. "Training will start when the others get back. Depending on your skills, we could be doing physical training for a while. Leorio is going to be doing lots of training on the four basic principles. I have yet to see anything much from the rest of you, but I have high hopes."

"Are we going to be doing all of our training here?" Gon asks again. "Well, I need to get back to Heaven's Arena at one point. You lot can stay here and train with Kurse or you can accompany me there." She thinks for a second. "Koharu will be staying here this time."

"If it would be possible, I would like to stay here as well," Kurapika quietly said. "I would like to as well. I know I came along just for the hell of it, but I actually wish to learn." Leorio smiled but one of determination. "Gon, Killua?" Akira sent a questioning look their way. "I want to go with you! It would be really fun to go through Heaven's Arena again!" He hugs Killua's arm, "You're going to come with too right?" The ex-assassin sighs but nods his head.

"When the other five get back, I'll ask them as well. For now, you all can go spar outside. Sometimes it is best to learn from each other. If you wish, once you win your match, you may challenge me." Akira crosses her arms, "I will not go easy on you though." With those words, Gon and Killua run through the House of Nen until they find their way to the training area. They both want a match with Akira, but they would have to battle it out first. Kurapika, Leorio and Akira all walk to the training grounds to find a battle has already began between the two young hunters.

Akira settles with sitting on the grass while watching the boys move at speeds most normal people could not see. To be honest with herself, in a battle without Nen, she would almost certainly lose. Twenty minutes after the fight began, the boys were still going at it as if they had just begun. Akira calls out, "Stop." They both stop in the middle of the attack and look at Akira.

Akira holds up a card. They can see the decorative back of the card but have no idea which one it is. "Whoever can guess which card I have will get to fight me. You will pick a number and then explain why you chose that."

"It's a Royal Kupraine! Number eight of hearts! You chose it because we all hung out when you snuck Buyo into the Hotel," Gon looked overly sure of himself. She shakes her head and he adopts a crestfallen look. Killua looks deep in thought. "It's the Joker with you on it. You chose it because it has you on it. Narcissistic woman." Akira looks angry but turns the card around to reveal he is in fact correct.

She holds out her cards to the blond. He takes them and then retreats to behind Leorio. Akira's eyes turn cold. She lets out an aura thick with bloodlust. Kurse bursts through the doors and runs over to the blond and the doctor. "I would urge you both to take about thirty steps away from her at this moment." They give him a questioning look. "I am appointed to make certain things do not get out of control. She is called the Master for a reason. She is a bit to hot-headed at times and she sometimes does not know when to quit."

Gon walks over slowly to where Kurse, Kurapika and Leorio decided to wait. They were a good fifty feet away from Akira now. Killua looks a bit unnerved. Akira stood quite indifferently; her shoulders were tensed up slightly and she had this wild look in her eyes. Gon remembers feeling Hisoka's bloodlust during their time on Zevil Island. _Aura like this… I thought Hisoka was scary. If Hisoka was here… I'm not sure how long he would stay calm until he looked like the four of use cowered away from her power._

"I have a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to strength. We seem to be at equal in terms of speed." Akira stands up straighter and stretches out her body. "In terms of Nen and Aura capacity… I would say there are a few levels between us. I'm not called a Master for nothing." She got into a fighting stance and projected her will with Hatsu. 'I will beat you', her will put into Nen. "Now, prepare to be utterly destroy-"

An angry screeching of her name interrupts her angry declaration. "Akira!" The murderous aura was quickly changes into one of utter fear. Koharu kicks open one of the doors and marches towards the terrified girl. She grabs Akira's collar with both hands and shakes her. "What did I tell you about doing that here?! You changed the taste of my alcohol! Damn you girl! Have you nothing to say?" She released Akira's shirt. The frightened girl takes a step back, then vanishes.

If Killua was frightened by Akira's aura, he did not want to know the reason such a powerful person would be afraid of Koharu. "Damn girl keeps forgetting that she's a damn Transmuter…" Koharu mutters. "Kurse," She calls over to the Kiriko. "Can you please buy me more alcohol? My peach vodka is now beyond the taste of sour apple vodka." Kurse nods and walks into the House. Koharu turns to Killua, "Please tell her I am not happy when you see her." He nods.

 **A/N: I figured that when aura touches liquid, that it would do things based on the water test, as it was shown that it affects liquids as well, (Palm did it with her coffee in the anime). I hope it wasn't too far fetched… I have some great ideas about how I want to go on with my story. One idea was Bloopers. What if Akira, Koharu, Gon, Killua and the gang were actually actors and this was their movie? I'm going to try to write some and hope they are funny. I hope you all have enjoyed Akira's big reveal and her dumb antics during the training. Have a good Day/Night!**


	10. A New Team

**A/N: Early in the morning update today because I was really feeling in the zone. I have a side project I'm working on, so once I have a good chunk of it done, I'll probably be adding it to the sight. Although it does not have a name, it is a Fairy Tail fic. If you all want to keep an eye out for that. I'm thinking of going back and deleting my pervious A/N's so that I have a more accurate word count… Anyways, tell me what you all think. Like I said before, I have some nefarious plans for this story.**

 **[Disclaimer]: I do not own hunter x hunter or any of the characters, places or canon plots. I only claim original characters, places and plots. The actions and thoughts of characters do not necessarily reflect my own thoughts and opinions.**

The New Team

The four boys are left to stand around until the now elusive Master returns. They watch television in Akira's living room, eat Kurse's delicious food, play a few games on Akira's computer and walk around the place exploring all the different rooms. While exploring, the happen upon a large room with a galaxy painted on the ceiling and purple swirls adorning the walls. The doors to the balcony are left open and wind blows into the room.

"Is she still angry with me?" a meek voice says from outside. "She said she was," Killua answers. He and Gon walk out onto the balcony and look around to find no one. Kurapika admires Akira's fine taste in books while Leorio looks at her fashion sense, noting that nearly everything was black. "Up here," Akira's voice is quiet. They look up to see the end of a rope ladder is just within reach. Gon grabs hold and hoists himself onto the roof. Killua is soon to follow while Kurapika and Leorio content themselves with sitting on some fancy chairs on the balcony.

Gon walks around carefully on the roof towards where Akira sits. She its on the highest part of the roof that is flat; which is about an eleven foot diameter of a pentagon. She holds a beautiful telescope in her hands and a few rocks at each corner hold down a map. She has an empty bottle of cider next to her and a box of cereal. "I've been watching the progress of the other five students. The pair sent to The White Highlands is already on their way back. The bald man has just reached the cave entrance to the palace. The blond with green eyes is on his way back as well."

Akira adjusts how far the lens could reach and laughs to herself. "Let me set this on the stand. You will love this." She unfolds a stand and focuses the telescope. The stand is only about three feet high so one could sit down comfortably while using it She moves away slowly and lets Gon look through. "Is that who I think it is? Killua, look at this." He moves away for Killua to see. The silver haired boy laughs heartily.

"I sent him to Caustic Cistern to collect a crystal ball at the bottom of the lake." She laughs again. "He will figure a way out. I have not known that man to fail at many things."

She moves to look through the telescope. She likes to watch how everything went rather than be patient and wait for them all to get back. "You can have some cereal if you like. I am out of cider, but there is more in the Kitchen." She stuffs her hand in the boy and pulls some out for herself. She eats some while looking through the telescope.

"Akira," Gon gets her attention and she looks away from the telescope briefly to listen to his question. "You're really powerful aren't you?" She nods and then looks through the scope. "Were you really going to kill Killua?" She shakes her head. "I said so, but I am rather good at bluffing. My dangerous aura is just that, nothing more. If I wanted to kill him, I would have done so right away. Pops taught me to always use my aura to bluff."

"He said it would usually save me many pointless fights with people who were not strong. Doing something like that is quite a waste of aura. Showing it off is a waste too, but less so. I was also told that if I got into a serious fight where I was clearly disadvantaged, a bluff may get me out of it." She explains a bit about one of the many important lessons Pops taught her. "You should work on learning to bluff as well as I can. Sometimes it isn't a bluff and I lose control; however, I wouldn't worry about it so much unless you seriously make me angry."

Killua and Gon both tense nervously. "Oh," Akira seems really surprised. "The bald one is on his way back now too. That was pretty fast." She moves the telescope until she is looking at Hisoka. She blushes heavily before looking away from the scope and putting it down. She stands and picks up her things. "Killua, I promised you a fight. We can spar at Heaven's arena." She walks and jumps onto the balcony.

Gon and Killua follow Akira down to the balcony and then are escorted into the living area with Kurapika and Leorio. She settles down on a comfy couch and then proceeds to fall asleep. Gon and Killua look through movies in a seemingly endless shelf of them. Kurapika and Leorio sit patiently on a couch near the door. They had trouble picking between the couches in the room (there were six) and just chose to sit in the one closest to them. Gon and Killua finally decide on a movie called 'Poltergeist'. Leorio rolls his eyes once he saw what they were watching.

Akira, whom was snoozing on the couch, jolts awake at one of the loud scenes. She looks around almost horrified, her aura spreading out defensively, before calming down and enjoying the movie. Gon and Killua made sure to spare her a giggle. Leorio laughed quite a bit, earning him a death glare. Kurapika ignored what went on around him so that Akira would not be cross with him.

Their movie was a long one, but afterwards they had dinner to look forward to. Kurse invites them into the dining room where he serves them freshly caught Lynx-fish. Akira happily digs into her food knowing that Kurse was a wonderful cook. The others soon follow in suit. Akira makes note that Koharu is absent from the table. _I suppose he really did go out and get her some more alcohol. She does deserve it for being so good on the way here but… now she isn't allowed to tell me that I have no self-control._

* * *

The sun shines through the clouds onto the training yard. Gon and Killua spar while Kurapika focuses on physical training. Leorio holds his Ren as long as he possibly can. "After a few days, you should be able to hold it for a few moments rather than half a minute." Akira, whom had been showing off by holding her Ren since training started this morning, walks around the doctor. "Perhaps you should take a small break. We can try again when you feel ready." Leorio breathes out a sigh of relief before going to sit in the shade.

Akira wanders over to where Kurapika is doing pushups in the grass. "Conjurer, may I ask you to show me what it is that you can do? Or perhaps just tell me about it while you do push ups." Kurapika grunts as he pushes up, clearly distracted with Akira's presence.

"Under normal circumstances, I usually only use my chains on Spiders. However, I have rewritten my vows a bit. I have four chains that I use. Holy chain, Judgment chain, Dowsing Chain, and Chain jail. I can use Chain jail on only spiders. I cannot use judgment chain unless my eyes are scarlet. My holy chain is not much use unless my eyes are scarlet, for I am a specialist during that state and have full mastery over all types of Nen." He seems a bit out of breath after his explanation. Akira sits down to think of his abilities. "Very interesting. I shall like to hear more at a later time. Perhaps when I return from Heaven's Arena."

She walks over to watch Gon and Killua spar. They each take notice of her presence but do not let her distract them. They both use Ken and go somewhat slowly. _They must have learned this recently. Perhaps they got a tip during one of their jobs._ Akira sits on the grass next to Judge. "How are you doing buddy?" She pats him on his shoulder.

"Mistress Akira," Kurse calls to her from the door. "Two of your students have returned. Shall I send them out here with the item?" Akira stands and pats her pants to rid them of dirt. "Send them out here please. They can start training."

Kurse returns through the doorway a few moments later with Wing and Zushi. Zushi holds out the Malachite Crown of Tempest. "Thank you. You have both proved your worthiness. You may go ahead and train with the others." She takes the crown and points them towards Gon and Killua. She looks at the crown in her hands. It was very heavy and large; clearly meant for a king. She hears a happy commotion from behind her. She looks over to see Gon and Zushi embrace and then have some happy conversation.

"Mistress?" Kurse asks from behind her, "May I take that to the treasury room for you?" She hands it to him and nods a thanks. Wing walks over to Akira. "Those two were let by you right?" She shakes her head. "No, Koharu was the guide. I was a student of sorts." He nods. "I'm sorry to hear about Master Pops. You will do great." She gives him an odd glance. "You do remember me don't you?" She shakes her head.

"I suppose it has been quite a while since the last time I was here. You were very young. I believe it was the second year you stayed here that I came to visit Pops. He is a very old friend of mine." He seems lost in thought, but so does Akira as they watch the three friends talk about their travels. "I have to make a trip to Heaven's Arena soon. Will you and Zushi be joining me?"

"I think I will stay here. I still have to pay my respects. I remember a lot of what was taught to me, and I wish for Zushi to learn here. When you return, I would like very much for you to teach him personally." Wing glanced over to see her nod. "I'm hoping to spend no more than two weeks there. If I do, I think I might go crazy." She crosses her arms.

"Mistress, there is another student," Kurse sent Hanzo out. Who handed her the Crystal Tiara. It had been glowing a faint yellow color. "Oh, wonderful. Koharu will be happy to hear that I have found her a birthday present." She puts it on and watches as the yellow is replaced with a deep purple glow. "Wonderful. What kind of training would you like to do?"

"I was hoping to see the Old Master. I did hear he had some sort of accident, but I was not sure if he was still around." She shakes her head. "My teaching is just as great as his. You're welcome to learn under myself if you wish. Kurse cannot use Nen, but he knows the world and more about it. Perhaps you would like some sort of lesson from him?" He nods. "I could always do some research to help me out in a battle and learn how to gain a steep advantage against all types." He bows, "Thank you Master." Hanzo walks back into the House of Nen.

"That leaves two more students. Hopefully The Sinful Soul is still under Caustic Cistern and I only have one more student to look forward to." She frowns. "You don't care for Hisoka either?" Wing asks her. "We saw him several years ago when he had a match against Gon at Heaven's Arena." This intrigues Akira. "Caustic Cistern… Is that the Acid Lake?" Akira nods with a large smile on her face.

"I'm glad to see that not only do you have his skills, but that you think just like him." He smiles. "Was that perhaps you yesterday with the murderous aura?" She nods. "He taught you to bluff well. If I had seen it, I would certainly have been nervous. Your abilities far exceed mine and you still have great potential." She smiles at his compliments. "Thank you."

Akira turns when she hears a ferocious growl emanating from underneath the tree. Buyo has his hackles raises and his teeth showing as he growls at the door. Akira follows his gaze to see Hisoka. He holds a very large black sphere in his hand. Hisoka hands it over with a frown. "I only came to check on my unripe fruits. All are still unworthy." His frown lightens and he regains his composure. "See you all soon~"

Akira feels a shiver go down her spine at Hisoka's creepy proclamation. She looks at the black orb in her hand. She turns and walks into the House of Nen. She sets the black orb on a stand, that many people who actively use a crystal ball would put it on. She watched it for a brief moment before returning to the training yard. She sat beside Leorio, "Ready to return to your training?" He nods. "Alright. I want you to hold your Ren for at least two minutes by the end of today."

She walks over to watch Gon, Killua and Zushi spar. It was sort of funny because they were taking turns ganging up on each other; as soon as someone lands a punch, everyone changes targets. She makes small talk with Wing while she watches the boys. She silently makes plans for the trip to Heaven's Arena. She hopes that when she gets there, they only have to share her room for the one night so that they can work their way up to getting their own room. She watches Gon and Killua. _They will most likely only take one day to reach that level. Maybe I can get them to go all out in a fight together. That would be pretty damn amazing to see them at full capacity. I already owe Killua a fight. Perhaps I'll make a deal with Gon as well._

"Alright everyone, I will be retiring to do some work." They all stop what they are doing to focus on what Akira has to say. "You may continue to train, or perhaps do something else. You are free to do as you wish." She waves as she walks back to the House of Nen.

* * *

Papers are scattered across the large plush queen-sized bed. The papers are full of numbers and heavily inked with tiny words. Akira sits at her desk with even more paperwork scattered around her. She looks through a stack of papers while trying to keep a phone to her ear using her shoulder. "One million jennies? Fuck you. I won't go over one hundred thousand." She waits briefly as she scribbles on a paper. "Fine, we can do that. It better be here by the time I get back… What time will I be back here? I don't know! It's your job to get it here on time!"

Akira hangs up the phone angrily and tosses it onto the bed. "Bullshit companies. Better get my shipment right or there's going to be some serious trouble," she mutters to herself as she continues to go through paperwork. "Leave for a few damn weeks and stuff piles up. I should really hire someone for this. Perhaps I can get Kurse to do this."

"Mistress Akira," Kurse quietly knocks on the door then opens it. _Speak of the devil._ "Mistress, your last student has come back with the treasure. Shall I take it from him and give the speech or shall I send him into…" Kurse gestures to the paperwork all over the room, "this travesty?" He winces at the glare she gives him. "If someone took care of the bills and collected the rent, we would not be having this problem." Kurse looks down and shifts his feet nervously.

"Just take the treasure and send him in here. I'll deal with him once I'm done with my paperwork. I should only be about… eight or nine minutes… a phone call… It doesn't really matter; just send him in." She quickly retrieves her phone from off the bed and dials a number. "I'll go get him now Mistress" She waves him off as she listens to the dial tone on her cellphone.

"Hi, yes. This is Akira Cadence. You have my record on file. I will be heading to the area around Heaven's Arena and want to know if you have any targets around there." Kurse knocks at the door and opens it quietly. "Mistress Aki-" He is instantly silenced by an icy glare and backs out of the door. Shalnark steps in quietly and stands beside the door. Akira points to him and then towards the edge of the bed as she gets back to her phone call.

"You don't have anyone else? I just was hoping for more of a challenge. Someone like him is a waste of time for me… Yes I understand that there are more experienced hunters… If you don't give me better targets, how will I ever prove myself to you all?" Akira is basically yelling at this point. "Do you even know who you are speaking with? No? Well you better tell your superiors that this is the Master of Nen you are addressing and I want a damn real criminal!"

Akira slams her hand on the desk and knocks all the paperwork off of it. "Maybe I will use the privilege of the Hunter's license and just kill anyone I deem to be a criminal? Yeah. You better." Akira sets the phone down and puts it on speakerphone as she searches for a clean paper and a pen. "Speak," She demands. The phone speakers begin to emit the terrified woman's voice, "Wanted for mass murder, burglary and destruction of property: Desmond Hunt. I can fax over a photo if you would like…" Akira declines, "I will just look him up on my own. Please put me down as his primary Hunter. I will not share my bounty with others."

The poor woman on the phone assures Akira that she will be the only one receiving money for Desmond Hunt. "Thank you. I appreciate your very _difficult_ help." She hangs up the phone and sets it to the side as she leans over and picks up a few stray papers from the floor. "I'll be with you shortly. Paperwork piles up and idiots run the blacklisting agencies," She says while writing on her new papers.

"I really do have a whole spiel for you… I am just rather busy." She leans over and picks up a few more papers. She picks up her phone once again. She waits for someone to pick up, "Hi, Akira Cadence. Account number 35673023. I just want to know how much I have left… Can you tell me how much I had before all the entries from Heaven's Arena? Prefect. Thank you." She writes the incredibly long number on her accounting papers.

She hangs up her phone and wheels her office chair around so that she sits a few feet in front of Shalnark. He sits on the very edge of the bed and has moves a few papers out of the way as not to crumple them. "So, was the treasure easy to find? My calculations said it would have been about five feet under the sand with about a foot sticking out." He smiles and holds up a finger, "It was actually five and a half feet under with a very rude Golden-scaled Lizard perched on top."

Akira nods and thinks for a moment. _Something definitely weird about you. Most normal people would be slightly annoyed at having to bring a six-foot tall monolith up ten thousand steps. How are you always so happy looking?_ "Well I suppose that I don't have much more to say than congratulations and ask if you would care to join myself and two other students to Heaven's Arena for further training." She picks up a few papers from the bed and glances over them while waiting for an answer. "I think I would like to go. I heard there was an electronics convention a few blocks from the tower."

"Wonderful. Do as you please for the next few hours. We leave tomorrow at six. Be ready and standing at the front door of the House of Nen by then." She rolls her chair back to the desk and continues to shuffle papers and make phone calls. Shalnark stands and excuses himself from the room. He feels a sudden smothering aura from the direction of Akira's room.

* * *

Akira wakes before the time she set for departure by a good few hours. When she steps outside her room, she can see that she is up before Kurse. As she wanders the halls leading to the kitchen, she passes by a large grandfather clock. Her eyes strain in the dark until she can see that is it slightly past four in the morning. She walks quietly to the kitchen, passing by everything in the darkness of the early morning.

She steps into the kitchen and does not bother to turn on the lights. Instead, she opts to use her Naughty Kitty aura to see in the darkness. She hums quietly as she grabs ingredients for coffee. She takes out the ground coffee and sets it into the coffee maker's tray. She presses a few buttons as she moves to get the cream from the fridge. The light momentarily blinds her and she scowls at the fridge.

She waits for the maker's beep so she can pour some coffee for herself. She adds creamer and sugar quickly and stirs until it turns a light caramel color. She takes a sip to ensure it is to her liking then cleans up her small mess. She walks through the darkness of the house with a cup of coffee in her hands. Akira makes her way to the living room and sits down on a cushy couch. She turns on the TV and flips it over to the news.

She sips her coffee while watching the world's tragedies. The woman on television talks with a glum look about her, "multiple criminal groups have begun to resurface throughout the Republic of Padokea. Witnesses say that they are criminals recently released from a nearby maximum security prison. People in the country are advised to stay away from shady neighborhoods and areas of their current city. We advise that all citizens stay indoors after dark and always watch your surroundings. Now we have Hatano with the weather. Hatano…"

Akira does not bother to listen to the weather forecast. She was more interested with the criminal groups that have been resurfacing as of late. _Damn bitch from the phone said that there was nobody worth tracking down. At least I have one target that is halfway interesting._ She turns the television off and makes her way back to her room to pack a backpack for the trip.

She quickly finds her backpack and packs two pairs of black pants, four shirts (one being for a fancy occasion) and a black dress that falls just above her knees. She packs her black fingerless gloves and her beautifully crafted silver cat mask. Last, she makes sure to include undergarments, cards, her special flask, her hunter's license and her cell phone.

Akira decides last minute that she will wear her fingerless gloves and takes them from the backpack. She has on a black button up blouse, black jeans, the fingerless gloves, her signature combat boots, and a new heavy black cloak. The shoulders were furnished with thick black fur and have five foxlike tails hanging from the fur. Each tail has a silver tip to match her mask. The trim was also lined with black fur and gave an interesting look when mixed with the thick velvet material the cloak was mainly made of.

She glances at her gloves. A small smirk tugged at her lips. _Titanium plated but sleek enough to look innocent._ She had painted her nails in her free time as well; they gleam silver. _I don't know why, but I have this inkling of a bad feeling in my chest. It might be nothing, but… It might also be something._ She shakes her head to clear her bad thoughts. She looks out her doors to see the sun is about to rise. _Better get to the throne room and give instructions to Kurse and Koharu._

She walks to the throne room with her backpack in hand; her cloak flows gently behind her, giving her a look of someone in power that means business. "Mistress," Kurse greets her with a bow as she enters. "I have arranged for everything to be taken care of while you are away. I have spoken to Mistress Koharu to ensure she will take over training while you are away." Akira nods affirmation. "Koharu is already up and has readied the wings with Beast's help." He follows her hurriedly as she proceeds to the front of the house of Nen.

Akira watches as Koharu brushes Syn's plush fur. "I trust you will stick to the teaching?" Koharu nods. "I trust you will tone it down with the liquor?" Another nod. "There is a present for you on the throne." Koharu's eyes light up and she promptly ditches the brush as she walks quickly away.

Akira walks to Syn and pats him a few times on his large muzzle. She turns to see 'the wings' perched on the roof like gargoyles. Winged Housecats they are called; not at all like house cats. They are felines that strongly resemble tigers. They have large wings made of very large feathers. Each is a different color. Their colors are why they were called winged housecats. The three that are perched on the roof are a grey calico, a tuxedo, and a solid smoky grey. They looked just like housecats from far away.

Syn lays on the ground as she fastens her backpack to his chest so she did not have to worry about dropping it. He had no saddle but with the backpack fastened on in a harness of sorts, she was able to hold on in case of rough winds. The winged housecats had on a harness as well for strapping on bags and holding on. She watches the sun rise as she waits for her students. Gon and Killua arrive first and walk to Akira.

Killua looks at Syn and then at Akira, "I don't think we will all fit on Syn." Akira smirks at him and points behind the boys to the roof. Gon's eyes light up with wonderment. "These are 'the wings'; a specialized group of winged housecats that we have trained for travel and companionship." Killua crosses his arms, "Is this what Koharu meant when she told us you travel by way of the wings?" Akira frowns, "She told you huh?" They both nod. Akira sighs and shakes her head, clearly disappointed with her friend's big mouth.

Akira whistles, the grey calico and solid smoky grey both jump down. Gon walks up to the grey calico and scratches him under the chin. The large feline purrs deeply, the rumbling sound can be felt all the way up his arm. Gon smiles his big goofy grin while petting the winged housecat as Killua does the same. The silver-haired boy smiles as well.

Both of the boys' smiles disappear when they watch the blonde with green eyes walk through the door. They each get into a defensive fighting stance instinctively. Shalnark smiles and waves at them. Akira looks on in confusion. She watches as Gon and Killua use Ren. She can feel their desire to fight rolling off in waves. _They must know each other. What a pain. Now I'll have to find some way to keep them on good terms for the time being. At least Blondie seems to not have a problem._

"What a pain," She walks so that she is standing between them, about ten feet from each. "You can't fight here." Neither of the boys listens as they stay in their defensive stance. "Really. You can't fight here. As your current master, I order you to get along." Gon and Killua seem to understand they were just ordered. They boy release their Ren and stand up straight but still seem to be very on edge. "What is wrong with you both?"

"He is a member of the Phantom Troupe," Killua says with a hollowness to his voice. Akira raises an eyebrow, "Oh?" _I knew something felt off about him. At least now I know._ "Well it doesn't really matter what he is a part of. He's here, you're here. Get along for now. Once you are done with training here, feel free to try and kill each other." She smiles and crosses her arms. Her aura slowly spreads around her and each of the boys cringe slightly at her display of power. _Perhaps they will get the idea that I am serious._

She whistles and the tuxedo jumps from the roof. She gestures to him with a smile. Shalnark pets him before securing a small satchel of sorts to the harness. Gon and Killua secure their belongings to their respective harnesses. Kurse walks over to Akira and chatters to her as she climbs on Syn's shoulders. Her cloak drapes down his shoulders and cover Akira's legs. If there was ever a war, she would look like a great captain atop her large beast with a regal cloak adorning her shoulders.

Although Gon was a bit sour with Akira for so easily dismissing that a student was really a Spider, he could not help but watch her with admiration heavy in his eyes. _She is really amazing. What she lacks in strength is made up with her personality and Nen abilities._

Killua, on the other hand, drops his anger quite quickly and listens to the demanding girl. He sits atop his appointed winged housecat and looks around. He sees Gon with a look he does not quite recognize on his friend's face. He frowns at the though it could actually be a lovestruck look. _Of course Gon would idolize Akira, but to actually like her in that way? Sickening._ Killua thinks he understands Gon and his respective feelings, but he does not know anything. He does not even know how to make sense of his own feelings. He gives a scowl to Akira but she is blissfully ignorant of it.

Once all four are situated on their beasts, Akira waves to Kurse. Syn flaps his large wings a few times before walking to the edge of where the ten thousand steps began. The large black beast leans back on his haunches and then pushes off to take flight. Each of the winged housecats so the same and catch up to the large black beast. They fly in a V-shape; Akira in the lead with Shalnark at her left, Gon and Killua to her right.

There was not much for Akira to do as she waits to reach their destination. Gon and Killua find a way to entertain themselves by playing a game of eye spy. A bit boring over the ocean, but nonetheless it passes time. Shalnark passes the time by using his cell phone. Akira could only wonder what he was doing. _Perhaps a game or a book._

* * *

"Oh look!" Gon points excitedly to the dock they were fast approaching. Syn finds himself a nice large area on the beach to land and the wings follow in suit. Akira takes her backpack and holds it by one of the straps. "Go home." He large black creature waits for the wings to be ready then takes off back to the direction of Akira's island.

Akira quickly rummages through her bag until she finds the sliver cat mask. She quickly ties it on so that none of the general populace will know her true identity. She walks until they reach the road where she proceeds to hail a cab.

Gon and Killua take note of her status among the citizens. Akira sits in the back next to Gon who is squished between her and Killua. Shalnark sits in the front. Akira forced him so that there would be no killing in the back. The cab driver glances in the rearview mirror once in a while to look at Akira. Her reputation was well known as long as she wore the mask; in fact the mask was so well known that she could be considered popular.

She smiles innocently each time he looks back at her. They reach their destination rather quickly. "Thank you Sir," She hands him enough Jenny to cover the ride and a bit more. The man smiles brightly and watches as they walk into the entrance of Heaven's Arena.

"You three have to start from the bottom, but you may stay in my quarters until you get your own room." She walks to the elevator, ignoring the stares and excited citizens. They walk up to the registry area and get the three registered to fight in open matches. "We shall take this stuff to the room and then come back here to watch matches until you are called and advance. Remember, do not use Nen until the two-hundreds."

She walks in the elevator and the woman in charge of pushing buttons knows where she wants to go before Akira has to say anything. "Master of Nen, it's a pleasure to see you again. I heard there were some interesting fighters recently. I wish you luck." The elevator doors open. Akira nods to the woman and walks down the halls until she reaches the room. She opens to door to see that everything was very clean and all of their belongings that were left were neatly laid out on the table.

"You guys can go downstairs now if you wish. I have to sign up for a fight. I'm going to choose tomorrow night. Good luck to you all. Aim for reaching the two hundreds by tomorrow. If possible, Gon, you and Killua can hare a room on this floor and Shalnark can stay here. This will avoid any sort of fighting." Akira makes sure her mask is on securely before she steps out the door.

She walks to the registration desk where a rather happy woman stands. "I'd like to register for a fight tomorrow. Will Anyone be available?" The woman types on her computer and searches for something. "Ah, Lula Tidus seems to be available for a fight tomorrow as well. We can set you up for a fight at six tomorrow evening." The woman looks at the computer again. "I heard she was a rookie crusher. Be cautious." Akira nods and walks to the elevator.

She steps inside to see that there is already a man in there. She steps in and turns around to face the door. "Which floor, miss?" The elevator woman asks. "Take me to the ground floor please," she says a bit rigidly. She turns her head slightly to look at the man standing beside her. He is wearing a black blazer and has a bandage wrapped around his forehead. He turns his head slightly and Akira quickly looks back towards the elevator doors. When they open, she walks out quickly, intent to find Gon, Killua and Shalnark.

 _What an odd guy. I really hope he isn't a fighter._ Akira walks to the area they have a few small arenas. Gon fights against a man with a grizzly beard and broad shoulders. He knocks the man out with one punch. Killua fights against a lean but tall man. He knocks the man out as well. Shalnark faces off against a middle-aged woman. He dodges her attacks, frustrating her beyond the ends of the earth. He sidesteps a running attack and she falls from the ring, knocking herself out.

Each of the boys is sent to level one hundred fifty. She watches each match, slightly entertained, and congratulates them each as they finish their matches. They each go to collect their money and return to Akira's room. Akira turns on the television and orders a few movies. "You guys want to watch horror or comedy?" They all opt for horror. "Ok. I'm thinking I want to watch something bloody." She chooses Texas chainsaw massacre.

Everyone situates themselves throughout the room. Akira sits at the dining table facing the TV, Gon and Killua sit on one couch and Shalnark sits in the lounge chair. She waits until they reach the halfway point in the movie, "Please excuse me. I will be going out for a while." Gon and Killua give her an odd look. She looks at the three. "Behave," She points at them all and scowls.

 **A/N: Well, tell me what you guys thing! Have a wonderful day/night! See you next week!**


	11. BLOOPERS!

**A/N: Well, I have yet to finish the next chapter, Chapter 11. I did however, work on the bloopers for my first ten chapters. There will be another blooper reel after chapter 20 and so on after every tenth chapter. Did I mention that I plan for this fanfiction to be over 500k words? (Not including A/N's and bloopers)**

 **BLOOPERS!**

 **A friend of mine that reads (but does not edit) this story had suggested that I add bloopers. Like the characters are actually acting. I feel as though this would be a funny idea. Imagine those times when there is a rather serious scene going on and one of the actors takes the time to make a joke or mess up some lines. I'm going to try it. I hope that you like it. If you don't want to read them, you can just skip to the next chapter. You won't be missing anything but good laughs.**

 **Chapters 1-10**

Koharu: [Leans into the room with phone at her ear] Autographs?

Kurapika: Business

Koharu: (into the phone) The hot blonde says business.

Director: Cut! (To Koharu) Dammit! Can you just read your lines please?

Koharu: He's hot, I'm sorry!

* * *

Kurapika: I have another question. What's the island like?

Koharu: Big, [looks directly into camera] like my ass.

Kurapika: [Laughs] I don't even know how to respond to that!

Koharu: I'm sorry! I just couldn't help it!

* * *

Gon: Of course you can join us!

Killua: Don't just say 'yes' to anyone who asks! Idiot.

Gon: You can join us. My name is Gon.

Akira: Bond, James Bond.

Director: God dammit!

* * *

Koharu: [Walking backwards while talking] We are on our way to the Southern Mirror Resort. There, you will each—[falls down and lands on her butt]

Akira: Dude, are you ok?

Koharu: [starts crying]

* * *

Hisoka: [Opens door and is attacked by Buyo] Akira!

Gon, Killua, Akira: [Laugh]

Buyo: [Licks Hisoka, smearing his makeup]

Director: Cut! Someone get the makeup guys back in here!

Hisoka: Great! Now I get to spend another hour in the chair.

Buyo: [Looks mightily pleased with himself]

* * *

Kurapika: [Holding the book, letting tears stream down his cheeks. Looks into the mirror] Do I really look like that? [Makes faces in mirror]

Akira: [falls out of tree] Sorry!

Director: Cut! Pull it together guys! Really.

* * *

Kurapika: I could have killed you just now.

Akira: Or, I could have killed you.

Kurapika: [Leans forward and Kisses Akira]

Akira: [jumps backwards and falls] God Dammit! There is no scenes like this for a while! Don't just do that!

Director: Cut!

Leorio: [Walks over and high fives Kurapika]

Koharu: [Dying of laughter]

* * *

Kurapika: [Pinning Koharu to the ground] Talk Dammit!

Koharu: Oh, I like this position.

Akira: Get some! [Hoots and catcalls from next to director]

Director: [Cries]

* * *

Akira: Here, [hands card to Gon] Think of it as a Gift.

Gon: [takes cards] These are really for me? [Accidently drops all the cards]

Akira: [laughs and helps pick them all up]

* * *

Koharu: I was lucky. My opponent was an old man. I punched him in the chest and accidently stopped his heart. Akira congratulated me and we… we… Line?

Director: both went to collect our hunter cards and wait for the orientation.

Koharu: I was lucky. My opponent was an old man. I punched him in the chest and accidently stopped his heart. Akira congratulated me and we both went to collect our hunter cards and wait for the orientation. [Pauses for a moment] Is that really my line? Should I sound less happy when I say this?

* * *

Gon: I met Killua during my exam. We have been together ever since.

Koharu: Together?

Killua: Yes! [Grabs Gon and pretends to make out with him]

Koharu: [Dying of laughter] I want in on this!

* * *

Akira: I was handed a badge with the number 413. We were first told—What number was my badge?

Director: Four-thirteen.

Akira: What do I look like to you? Do you think I will let my good name be dragged through the mud like that?

Director: (To assistant) What is she going on about?

Assistant: I believe the writer is a filthy Homestuck. She obviously is a bit unhappy about being the ass of this joke.

* * *

Akira: Hisoka! You freaking creep! What are you even doing here?

Hisoka: To get a good look at some scantily dressed women, why else?

Killua: I would also like to be part of this!

Akira: [does her best to cover herself with her arms] You guys are awful!

* * *

Akira: [hanging upside down on branch]

Koharu: Dammit Akira! [Throws unripe fruit, aiming for branch] Shut the fuck up girl! [Hits Akira in the stomach with fruit]

Akira: [Falls out of the tree and onto safety mattress] Koharu! You bitch!

Koharu: Oh god! Are you ok? I'm so sorry! [Dodges fruit] Did you really just throw that at me? I am not sorry anymore! [Jumps out of tree and tackles Akira]

Catfight: [Ensues]

Director: [Muttering] God Dammit.

* * *

Gon: She has black hair, and she is a bit shorter than I am. She wears black and combat boots… sort of like your boots…

Akira: [Removes Mask] (in a deep voice) Luke… I am your father…

Koharu: [Chokes on drink]

Gon: (Yelling) No! [Falls to knees]

Entire set: [Dying of laughter]

Akira: I'm sorry; It was just too good an opportunity to pass up!

* * *

Akira: [Slams hand on desk and knock all the paperwork off] Ow! Papercut!

Director: Take two!

Akira: [Slams hand on desk and knock all the paperwork off] Maybe I will use the privilege of the Hunter's license and just kill anyone I deem to be a criminal? Yeah. You better. [Sets down phone and puts it on speakerphone]

Phone Woman 1: [Silence]

Akira: [Looks at phone] Oops, I accidently hung up.

* * *

Akira: [Sits on Syn's shoulders and waves to Kurse]

Syn: (Sick of this shit) [lays down and rolls over on his side squishing Akira's leg]

Akira: Get off! [Pushes Syn]

Shalnark: [Helps Akira up from the ground laughing] Are you ok?

Director: Take two!

Akira: [Waves to Kurse] [Slowly begins to slide off Syn and lands on the ground] Mother fucker! [Jumps on the creatures shoulders and grips his fur] You better stay still!

Trainer: [Hands Akira black rope to help her stay on]

Akira: [Falls off again] I am not doing this today. [Walks off the set]

Director: [Cries] Why did I apply for this job?

 **A/N: Bloopers for chapters 1 through 10! I really hope you found as much fun in them as I did. My friend says the director is her favorite and she also feels so bad for him to be stuck with a bunch of rowdy teens. Poor Director man!**


	12. Pirates and Drunkscapades

**A/N: Hey all, sorry for my lack of posting last week... College has really been kicking y butt lately with homework and I have been under the weather as well... Anyways, on to the real stuff, I do not really know what to say about this chapter. I swear, the more I write, the more Akira seems to be bipolar or something. I really want to know how you all feel about the direction the story is going. Is it good? Is it bad? I wanna know who you think Akira should be with.**

 **Enjoy the story! Tell me what you think!**

Chapter 11

Pirates and Drunkscapades

Akira walks down the dark streets; she has one target in mind. Her combat boots make almost no noise as she walks quickly down the street. Her cloak keeps her warm and hides her identity. She has no mask covering her face. She's on the hunt for criminal flesh. She stands next to a small business, leaning against the corner of the building. She watches each person who passes but unfortunately, none of them are her target.

She waits patiently until the time rolls around to eleven at night, when she finally does see someone who looks like her target. Akira pushes off the wall and follows him from a good distance. The man seems none the wiser that he is being followed. He turns down an alley and Akira follows quickly.

Once she reaches the alley, she runs right down it. She sees a large wall of another building, making a dead end. The man she was chasing, Desmond Wild, stands facing her with his arms crossed. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" He speaks loudly and three men jump down and block her way out. As if she would run. Akira stands ready to fight. "Who are you? You're just a young woman. Walk away." Akira stands firm, determined to bring in this criminal.

"I only want you, Desmond Wild. Put up a struggle and things will go bad for you." She raises her hands, ready to throw down. "Surrender now and come with me." Desmond snaps his fingers and his three goons take hold of Akira. "I would let go," she warns. The three ignore her and begin to drag her away from their boss. "Don't say I didn't warn you. She releases her Nen and fire spreads all around her. The three men jump backwards but they were much too slow for her conjured flames.

The goons wave their arms around and try to extinguish the flames. The man who held onto her shoulders had flames all across the front of him. Akira, still covered with flames, walks towards Desmond. He steps back as she steps forward until his back touches the wall. "I said not to put up a struggle didn't I? Now, do you want to go to jail, or do you want to end up like them?" She points towards the three goons laying on the ground, smoking.

"I'll take the jail time." He puts his hands behind his back as Akira ties them together. While she ties him, he throws his shoulder into her and nocks her off balance. He shoves her again and she gets pinned to the wall. "I warned you not to struggle." She sets his shoulder on fire until he screams. After watching him suffer, she extinguishes the flames and then finishes tying him.

They walk down the gloomy streets until they arrive at the nearest police station. Akira fills out some paperwork for his transfer to a Blacklist jail site. She thanks the nice employees and walks back towards Heaven's Arena.

Akira passes by a small shop. "A young woman walking alone at night? That isn't very safe," A voice comes from behind her. She does not bother to look behind her or even try to get away. She lets her fiery aura surround her, keeping from conjuring flames though. Her aura carries a horrifying amount of bloodlust within, a clear message to back off.

The man continues to follow her, despite the clear warning that even normal people could pick up on. "Please, allow me to escort you back to wherever you need to be. It really is not safe." She thickens the aura around her. "I'm fine. I walk alone all the time." Her words have a bite to them. The man does not let up.

Akira stops and waits for him to get closer. She turns to see the man from the elevator. She scowls at him. "Please Miss?" She glares at him. "Fine, but if you try anything with me, I will not hesitate to set you on fire." She conjures a combusting ball of fire and holds it out so that it is in the hand closest to him. "Do not test me."

The man with the black blazer and bandage wrapped around his head holds up his hands defensively, "I would not do such a thing." He flashes a heartwarming smile that seemingly has no effect on Akira. She continues to walk towards Heaven's Arena while ignoring all of his questions. One question does get her attention: "Have you heard of any Nen exorcists?" She stops dead in her tract to look at him like he is crazy. "You are not an ordinary person," she points out.

"You could say that I didn't used to be a normal person," he sighs. "I never got your name." Akira crosses her arms and continues walking with the man. "You may refer to me as the Master of Nen. It's what I go by." The man sighs at her difficultness. He is clearly frustrated at how cold Akira is being. They get to the entrance and she bids him farewell as she wanders around for a while until she reaches her room.

She looks at the time to see that is nearly one in the morning. The room was dark and she made extra sure to tread as quietly as possible. Her senses were high from her rush of a fight and the creepiness of the man whom walked her back to Heaven's Arena. She saw Shalnark sleeping on the couch and both the boys were nowhere to be seen. She walks to her room and hangs her cloak in the closet. She kicks off her boots at the edge of the bed and wantonly lays on the bed, not bothering to change clothing or crawl under the covers.

Sleep finds her quickly.

* * *

Akira wakes to the smell of burning food and jumps up out of bed. Her shoulder seems tight and she stretches to try to loosen it up a bit. _Probably from when that guy slammed me into the wall. If I ever see him again, I'm going to set him on fire._ She walks out to see Gon trying desperately to cook eggs while toasting bread. She notices that he is more focused on the eggs and most likely forgot about the toast. She bids him good morning and reminds him about the toast that is now burnt black.

Shalnark and Killua sit in the part of the room with couches and are watching the news. "Akira," Killua calls her over. She sits on the couch next to him and he rewinds the television a bit. "You were on the news." He pushes play. A photo of Akira signing autographs in her cat mask was on the television; a woman speaks about her. "Fabled 'Master of Nen' has a fight, tonight at Six. She is to have a match against Pirate Queen, Lula Tidus. It is said that tickets for this match were sold out within twenty minutes of the announcement. This is the quickest tickets have ever flown out the door and Heaven's Arena plans to broadcast to local businesses who have paid for it."

Akira reaches into her pocket and pulls out twenty tickets. "I guess it's a good thing I purchased these before they announced it. You guys can use them if you wish. I planned to sell them outside for ridiculous amounts of money since we do not earn any." She hands the bundle of tickets to Killua. "Save three for yourselves, but I would really like for you to get a good price on the rest ok?" Killua nods and pockets the tickets.

"Akira," Gon calls her from the kitchen. She leans on the armrest and looks over at him. "Where did you go last night?" She puts a hand on her tight shoulder, "Nowhere interesting. Just doing some work and bumped into a creepy man." Shalnark raises an eyebrow. "He was insistent on walking me to the entrance. He was looking for someone; thought I might know of anyone who fits the description."

She watches more of the TV and sees that they even have a small bio for her. "This self-proclaimed Master of Nen has yet to prove how good she is but what we can see so far is that she is a ruthless opponent and should be considered quite dangerous in the square arena. Not many people know her true identity, but we hope to know soon. Until then, we shall always recognize her by the fancy silver cat mask she hides her identity with." Akira snorts. _I walked around all night last night without my mask._

"Tonight, she faces off against fame seeker Lula Tidus, the fame seeking pirate. We can't begin to imagine how this fight will turn out, but you can be certain that it will be very interesting and a good way to spend the evening." The announcer asks a question to her counterpart, "I heard you got your hands on some tickets, will you be participating in the betting as well?" He nods with a happy grin.

"Well folks, we would love to hear who you are betting for! Tag us on social media and tell us who you are rooting for, we will tally up your votes one hour before the match begins! Good luck to both of the contestants!" The woman did her signing off line and they changed gears to the normal news. Akira fast-forwards until she gets to real time on the TV. "Oh great. Just when I thought I got enough unwanted attention," she deadpans.

"I'm going to sign up for my next few fights and then try to sign up for my two-hundred's fight today," Gon cheerily beams from the dining table. "I looked through the list of other fighters. I'm going to look and see if 'The Werewolf Man', Mauro will fight against me." Killua adds his own input, "I had some interest in the Cyborg Man, Corion." Akira looks towards Shalnark, waiting to see who he wanted to fight. "It's a surprise!" He smiles an innocent smile.

"Well, I better start getting ready. I hurt my shoulder yesterday so I'm going to try and right it." Akira stands, walks to her room and quickly ties on her mask before walking to the front door. "I suggest you all join me. We are in for a long day and I have a feeling tonight is going to kick my ass." She walks down the hallway and is promptly joined by Gon, Killua and Shalnark. _At least they are all willing to learn_.

Akira walks to a nearby park while signing autographs on the way. She gets frustrated by the people swarming around her and asks them all very nicely to leave her be so that she can train in peace. They did all leave, although reluctantly. She stands in the middle of the park, "do whatever training you feel is necessary of you to win your fights." She waits for them to walk off and do their own thing.

Akira takes a deep breath and shakes out her shoulder a bit. "Ren," aura explodes and reaches out from around her before calming. The light purple moves smoothly around her. She keeps it up for a few moments and then sits down to meditate.

From a young age, Akira had seen meditation as an escape from reality and a way to calm her nerves. Now, Akira uses it to clear her thoughts and focus solely on the fight. She moves her shoulder around to keep it from tightening up. She can feel people watching her and moving closer slowly. She lets her Ren explode around her, turning it into En, reaching out in odd tendrils across the grass. She lets her bloodlust free and the grass on the ground moves around roughly from the power of her aura.

Horrified people run from the park and scurry back to wherever they belong. Gon, Killua and Shalnark look at the meditating girl with wide eyes. Gon goes back to working on his Ren. Shalnark practices his aim with his little bat-like antennae. Killua stands and watches Akira's aura with Gyo. His eyes remain wide and he is frozen in place. He looks at Gon and Shalnark. _How can they just go about their training? Every aura I have ever seen, hers is certainly the most frightening. My brother may even be off put._

Akira notices at one point throughout the day that Gon Killua and Shalnark have gone. She suspects they have gone to finish their remaining matches and sign up for a match for the next few days.

Akira sits until five in the afternoon, one hour before she has her match. She stands and retracts her En. She walks back to Heaven's Arena. At the entrance, she can see that it is packed with people. She spots Gon and Killua offing tickets for large wads of cash. Gon spots her in the crowd and sends a thumbs up with a smile. People turn around and notice her; they only crowd her further.

After a few moments of trying to get them to move, she releases her En full of bloodlust. She laughs a little when people trip over each other trying to get out of her way. She spots Shalnark near the elevator and walks up to him. He holds out her fingerless gloves and her black cloak with fur adorning the shoulders. "Gon and Killua said you would probably like to have these for the fight and asked me to go get them for you." She thanks him and puts them on. She readjusts her mask and tightens it.

Gon and Killua come up from the crowd holding three tickets. They hand one to Shalnark and leave to try to find good seats. Akira is left standing alone by the elevator. She signs a few autographs. A young boy, who looks to be about eight, tugs gently on her cloak to get her attention. "Miss, can you please sign my photo of you?" She bends down and takes his pen. She signs the back of the photo on the white part. She waves as he walks away with his mother. She stands up and spots the creep from the night before.

She quickly steps into the elevator to get ready for her match on the two hundredth floor. The registry woman greets her on the two hundredth floor. "Ah, Master of Nen. You are going to be up soon. Please follow me." Akira does as she is told and follows the registry lady.

* * *

Gon finds seats in the very first row. He sits between Shalnark and Killua with a bag of popcorn in his hands. Tension between the three lessened greatly since they arrived at the beach, but there was still plenty of tension there. Gon decides that if there ever is a time to try and break the tension, now is the time. "Shalnark, what did you come to the House of Nen for?" Gon asks him.

"I came to meet Akira. I heard she was almost as good as the pervious Master," He puts a finger on his chin and looks up, thinking of any other reasons. "I suppose I wanted to see how good she really is. Glimpsing the unusual En from the park… I can honestly say that she is by far more terrifying than Boss." Gon looks at Killua with wide eyes. "More terrifying then Chrollo?" He asks to make sure he heard right. The blonde nods happily.

The lights in the stadium dim and the spotlights point towards the stage. "Ladies and Gentlemen! It's show time!" Both fighters begin to walk up to the stage from the opposing sides under their photo on the screen. Akira's cloak waves behind her as she walks up proudly and confidently. She steps up onto the square arena and tosses her cloak over the side. She wears a black tank top, and black sweats that cover her boots. The sweats barely touch the ground and leave the toe of her boots sticking out a few inches.

Her opponent is dressed as a pirate. She has on white shorts that fall just above the knee, a white button up blouse, a frock coat that is black with blue trim with a blue belt securing it on her waist, and common pirate boots with blue fishnet stockings. She has on a black tri-corn with blue trim and a large blue feather pointing behind her. Her long blonde locks flow over her shoulders with regal curls; they have strips of blue dye on the ends of some of the locks but not all, so the blue is not overwhelming. The female pirate carries no weapons.

Shalnark leans over to Gon, "Akira has titanium plating in her gloves. I dropped one and it chipped the marble floor in her room." Gon laughs a bit then looks towards Akira. He knew what the Master was capable of. If Shalnark says that she is scarier than the Boss, it must be true.

Akira stands confidently and runs a hand over the titanium plating in her gloves. She is ready for the fight and gladly welcomes it. She raises her hands in the air and waves to various places in the crowd as they go wild. She locks eyes with Gon and winks. He blushes slightly at the action. "Begin placing your bets now! This is sure to be a very interesting match!" The announcer is barely heard over the roar of the audience.

Akira waits patiently until she is told their match would begin soon. "Points and K.O. System! Begin!" The referee yells and then steps back.

An explosion of En filled with bloodlust fills the stadium. Lula Tidus looks shocked and stands in her place, almost afraid to make a move. Akira hisses and swats her hand in front of her like a cat. Those who have been using Gyo since the match began saw the Naughty Kitty ability swirl to life. Lula regains her composure and begins to size up her opponent.

Akira jumps into the air with a spin and seemingly vanishes, "The Master of Nen jumps up into the air and seems to vanish!" She appears behind Lula and delivers a kick to the middle of her back, sending her flying to the other side of the arena face down. "The Master kicks Lula Tidus right in the middle of her back sending her flying to the other edge of the ring!" Cocco announces into the microphone, already mesmerized. "Clean hit and knockdown! Two points!" The referee calls out. "Two points to The Master and she takes the lead!"

"You won't get away with that twice," Lula point to Akira. She sends two black ten-sided dice flying into the middle of the ring, "Lula seems to be throwing out dice! What could they possibly be for?" Lula holds out her hand with the palm up. The number twelve appears and a wicked smile appears on the pirate's face. A large scimitar sword materializes in her hand. "It looks as if a curved sword has just materialized in Pirate Lula's hand!"

Akira watches carefully, noting the evil grin on the pirate's face. Her scimitar has a blue glow around it, showing it has Nen properties imbued on it. She charges towards Akira who jumps out of the way just in time, "A near miss! Lula is giving The Master a run for her money!"

Akira lands softly behind Lula, their backs mere inches apart. "You caught me off guard there. You forget my En fills this whole stadium. I know every move you make," Akira quietly whispers over her shoulder. Lula spins around and swings at Akira with her sword. "Lula tries to take The Master by surprise and misses by a fraction of an inch!" Akira suddenly appears beside her and punches her in the arm she holds her sword in. "Clean hit! One point!"

"The Master delivers a blow to Lula's shoulder, rendering her arm useless!" Lula swings her arm loosely, realizing that her shoulder has popped out of place. Akira's booted foot flies towards Lula's chin, nicking her and unbalancing her, "The Master delivers a kick to the Pirate's chin and knocks her off balance!" Akira jumps back and conjures three grape-sized combusting balls. She throws them at the pirate's feet, making her stumble backwards. "The Master seems to have firecrackers hidden somewhere on her person!"

Lula rights herself and throws her sword at Akira, slicing her arm. "The Pirate Lula Tidus throws her sword at The Master, cutting The Master's arm!" Akira looks at the blood beginning to drip down her arm and onto the floor. Lula appears in front of Akira and tackles her to the floor. "Lula takes her opportunity and tackles The Master to the ground while she is distracted by the Pirate's dirty trick!" The referee calls, "Knockdown! One point to Lula!"

Fire glints in Akira's eyes as she reaches up and begins to choke the pirate. Lula jumps away, "Lula jumps away from The Master for some unknown reason!" Akira stands up slowly. Fire begins to bloom from where her boots touch the ground and gradually envelope Akira. "Fire! The Master's feet are on fire! Now her whole body is covered with Fire!" Akira steps forward and into a fighting stance. "Fancy Flames!" She yells out. "It seems this is one of the Master's techniques she calls Fancy Flames!" Akira steps towards Lula slowly, burn marks in the shape of boot prints lie in her wake.

She takes a few steps and slowly begins to run, raising her fist in time to make contact with Lula's cheek. "The Master just punched Lula in the face!" Lula has a burn the shape of a fist on her cheek and is very lucky she had been using Ten. "Clean Hit! One point!" Akira settles down and the flames dissipate. "The Master lead with four points! She is no longer on fire, does this mean Lula has a chance?"

Akira activates Naughty Kitty and charges Lula. She swipes at her a few times, missing the first few but slicing the pirate on her good arm with three large gashes. "Critical Hit! Two points!" Akira jumps back, "The Master swipes at Lula and delivers to her three large lesions on good arm! The question is: how did she do it?"

"I'm going to end this now!" Akira charges again but uses her titanium-plated gloves to punch Lula once in the chest and then delivers an uppercut to her chin. "The Master jabs her in the chest then gives her an uppercut!" Lula steps back a few feet and falls. "Lula Tidus has fallen!" The referee steps over to Lula Tidus. He checks her pulse. "The Master wins with a knockout!" The crowd cheers.

"The Master wins! Her debut match was nothing short of amazing! Lula gave her a run for her money but she returned the gesture tenfold! Dangerous and talented, The Master has a score of one win; will she keep her record clean by winning her next match? Keep your eyes open for her next match! This is Cocco signing off! See you next time everyone! Goodnight!"

Akira raises both her hands in the air and smiles. Her left arm is completely covered in blood and continues to dribble down to the floor and down her arm. She walks down to where she tossed her cloak. She puts it on and walks back through the entrance she came in the beginning of the match. She walks to her room, holding her would closed with her other hand. Her face is a bit pale and she winces each time her arm gets moved too much.

She picks up the room service phone and dials the front desk. "This is the Master of Nen. Send someone who knows how to stitch wounds, now." She sets the phone down, leaving a bloody handprint on it. She hears a knock on the door. "Enter," she demands. A frightened looking nurse walks into the room holding a little kit in her hands. The woman quickly cleans the area and the gash and begins to stitch it back together. Once she is done, she wraps it in gauze and gives Akira a onceover.

The nurse hastily packs up her tools and exits the room promptly. Gon, Killua and Shalnark enter as she leaves. "Akira! That was amazing!" He hugs her around her shoulders, accidently squeezing her arm that was just wrapped and getting blood on his jacket. She grunts in pain and he releases her immediately. "Sorry! Let me go get you a wet towel!" He runs off and brings a damp towel to wipe off the blood remaining on her arm.

Killua wipes off the phone and the blood pooled on the table. "She surprised me with that sword. I figured it was ordinary and she had just conjured it normally. It slices through Nen." The three stand and listen to her. "One of you will end up fighting her for sure. At least you know what to look out for now." She points to her room, "Someone please get me my flask from my room." Shalnark walks off and comes back with said flask.

Akira opens it and takes a big gulp of the liquid. "I figured I would need some after the first fight. Shall we have a party?" Everyone looks around at each other and they each nod. "Shalnark, you're old enough to buy alcohol right?" The blonde nods happily. He calls the front desk and asks them to bring up a variety of drinks. Akira sighs with relief when she no longer feels the pain in her arm.

"Akira, Shalnark says that you have titanium plates in your gloves! Can I try them on?" Gon asks with puppy eyes. She slips them off carefully and hands them over to him. Killua leans forward, "Shalnark dropped them on the floor earlier." They all look at Shalnark, "that true Shal?" He nods. She laughs. "He broke your floor too!" Gon shouts then bursts with laughter. They all laugh.

Someone knocks on the door and Shalnark goes to answer. He comes back with four bottles of different alcohols. "Akira, we really shouldn't drink. We aren't old enough." Gon looks at her with worry as she takes another sip from her flask. "You are a Hunter! You do as you please." She smiles, "Plus, on my Island, that I own, I set the rules. If I wanna drink, then I will. You can either party with me or be a bummer." He stares at her and she repeats, "Party or Bummer?"

"Party…" he finally gives in. Killua takes her flask and takes a sip, "Alcohol does not affect me. Part of my training when I was young to be immune to all poisons, alcohol included." Akira takes the flask back. "What game should we play?" Killua asks. Akira jumps up and digs around in one of the drawers in the kitchen. She pulls out a die. "If I toss this and it lands on any number one to six, we drink! It's Koharu's favorite one." The boys laugh.

"I really do have one though. Let me get out six shot glasses." Akira gets out six shot glasses and lines them up. She fills each one up to the top. "We roll the die, the number we get is the number of shots you drink. If you roll a three, then you drink the first three, if the next person gets four, they only drink the number four shot ok?" Akira rolls first and gets two. She lifts up one that is filled with vodka and takes it. She coughs a bit then reaches for the next.

She holds up a shot glass filled to the brim with whiskey. She makes a scowl at the liquid then drinks it. "Gon, your turn!" She hands him the die. He rolls and gets a one. The innocent boy sighs with relief. Shalnark rolls next and gets a three. He drinks Vodka as well. Killua gets a six and drinks three shots of whiskey.

"We can play truth or dare!" The three boys shoot down her idea right away. "We can play 'Never have I ever' first and see how that goes ok?" Shalnark tries to keep from her playing Truth or Dare because it's a pretty awkward game. Fine. She sits on the floor in front of the couch with a bottle of Tequila. Gon sits to her right with a bottle of very weak wine. Killua sits to her left, across from Gon with a bottle of eighty-five percent Palinka. Shalnark sits across from Akira with the bottle of Vodka.

"Who wants to go first?" Akira is already beginning to slur her words. "I don't even know how to play," Gon admits. "You say, 'Never have I ever something', and if you have done it, you take a drink of your drink and if you haven't, you do nothing. Whoever passes out loses." Akira still slurs and takes a drink of her drink.

"I'll go first! Never have I ever ended up naked and couldn't remember why," Akira takes a drink, along with Killua. They all look at Killua, waiting for him to explain. "During my poisons training, alcohol was a difficult poison. I had actually done so a few times." They all look at Akira. "First time drinking, accidently set my clothing aflame. Since fire no longer burns me, I was fine but my clothing was not." She laughs at her own story.

"Never have I ever…" Gon thinks for a few seconds, "Kissed someone." Everyone takes a drink except Akira. They all give her a questioning look. "I live on an island under constant training! Do you think I ever had time to kiss someone?"

"Never have I ever had a close brush with death," Killua speaks up. They all drink, irritated that Killua chose something so simple. Shalnark thought for a moment, "Never have I ever killed someone." He, Akira and Killua all take drinks.

"Never have I ever gotten a tattoo," Akira smiles, knowing Shalnark is the only one who will be taking a drink. Gon smiles, "Never have I ever been in love." They all drink except Akira. She glares when they give her questioning looks. "Never have I ever smoked." Killua takes a swig but is surprised to see that nobody else does. "None of you has ever smoked before?" He laughs bitterly at his uncool company. "Smoking is bad for you," Shalnark advised.

"Never have I ever been electrocuted," Shalnark thought he was be the only one to drink to his question but is incredibly surprised to see Killua take a very long drink of his drink. His eyes say 'Don't ask'. "I electrocuted myself trying to plug too many electronics into extension cord extenders."

Gon looks a bit buzzed as he begins to slur his words. "I say that we play truth or dare now," Akira suggests. Gon is buzzed enough to agree right away. She smiles at the other two and they eventually agree. "Ok, rules. Everyone goes at least once in a round. If you choose one but dislike what you are given, you must drink three shots in order to choose the other option."

"Killua: truth or dare?" She smiles at the ex-assassin. _I don't care how tolerant he is, I will make him drunk._ "Dare," he answers confidently. "Drink the rest of the bottle." His blue eyes become wide but he does as he is told and chugs the rest of his alcohol. After he finishes, he thinks of who he wants to ask. "Gon, truth or dare?" He has a feeling his friend will choose dare. "Dare." Killua thinks again. "Call the woman at the front desk and order an erotic movie."

Gon smiles and wobbles over to the phone. "Hi. Do you have fifty shades of grey? Can you have it brought up to the Master of Nen's room? Thank you." He comes to sit back down. "Shalnark, truth or dare?" his voice is slurred and anyone with half a brain could see he would likely be the first to lose. "Truth," the blonde answers with a smile and takes a small sip of his drink. "Tell us three things about someone you have a crush on." Shalnark thinks briefly but Akira cuts in, "How old are we? Gon, you're playing it so safe."

"Well, she is strong. She's cute. She is totally oblivious to my feelings." He looks out the window and frowns. "So is it the girl with pink hair or the one that did not remember I arm wrestled her?" Gon asks. Shalnark shakes his head. "She is not part of the Spiders. I hope one day she will. It would be quite an interesting job for her."

"Akira, truth or dare?" The blonde removes the frown from his face and replaces it with his usual smile. "I suppose I will go with truth." She takes a gulp of her drink. "Which one of us do you like most?" She spits her drink and chokes while doing so. "How do I choose which student I hate least?" She laughs, "I'm just kidding." She takes a sip of her drink and her eyes light up. "I switch to dare," She takes three gulps of her drink.

Shalnark laughs, "I dare you to answer my previous question." She scowls at the blonde. "I can't choose between you all. I have not known you all for long." Gon sits up straight and slurs his words, "Just tell us Akira!" She growls at Gon. "Fine. I choose Shalnark. He has green eyes." They all look at her funny. "You told me to pick! You didn't tell me to pick seriously."

They force her to take two more shots for being difficult. "My turn. Gon?" She points to him. "Truth." Akira smiles a dastardly smile. "Pick between Shalnark and Killua: who would you rather make out with?" Gon's cheeks burn a bright red as soon as she finishes her question. He looks like he really doesn't want to answer the question. "Don't back out. You won't like the other option." A clear warning that meant if he didn't answer, he would have to pick anyways and provide entertainment for the round.

"I choose Killua. I've known him longer and I think he would keep it to himself." Gon frowns at Akira, obviously upset with her question. His fuzzy mind, slick with booze, he had a terrible plan forming in his mind. "Shalnark." The blonde picks dare since he chose truth the first time.

"I dare you to kiss Akira." Said girl, whom was sipping from her drink, proceeds to cough and choke from sheer surprise. "You will not," She sternly says to the blonde. Gon and Killua both glare at Shalnark. "You will," Gon demands, still feeling a mean streak towards Akira. The blonde looks absolutely horrified at the two opposing parties. He points to Akira, "She will kill me if I do."

They all look towards Akira. She is finishing off her bottle of alcohol. She looks pale and out of breath. "I… lose…" she mutters as she slumps over and leans back on the couch. "Gon, you can get your revenge another day. Let's go to our rooms. Shalnark, I would just leave her there. This was her idea anyways. We are going to go to our suite. It's number two-sixteen, perhaps if she sobers up at all you can tell her." He looks at Gon who is having trouble standing on his own. The ex-assassin sighs and Gon puts his arm around Killua's shoulders for balance. "See you," he waves bye.

Shalnark picks up the room a bit. He wipes up any remaining blood he sees and makes sure that all the alcohol is put in the freezer. He picks up Akira's gloves and sets them on the table. He looks around for where she threw her cloak and hangs it on the hook on the door. He walks around and makes sure everything is in as much order as he could make the room. He walks past the only thing that is not where it's supposed to be. Akira.

He carefully picks her up bridal style and brings her to her bed. He gently lays the liquored up girl on the blood. He notices that the wound on her arm is bleeding into the bandage. "Damn girl." He mutters as retrieves a towel and places it under her arm. He sits on the bed cross-legged facing her hurt arm. He quickly changes the bandages and cleans it up. _Drink alcohol after a sword slices you? Idiot._

He takes the bloody towel and tosses in a pile of her dirty laundry. _I suppose she would have drank less if not for Gon and his petty revenge._ He pulls the blanket up to her waist as not to cover her arm so she did not hurt herself during the night trying to struggle free. Akira laughs quietly while she sleeps, currently in the midst of a dream. Shalnark looks at her face, free of the scowl she so often wears. He isn't sure what comes over him, but he decides to lean down closer. Akira mutters quietly in her sleep.

He leans forward and plants a quick kiss on her lips. Akira, although drunk, has rather fast reflexes. Before Shalnark pulls away, he feels Akira's good hand grip his collar and pull him closer as she deepens the kiss. He returns the kiss, out of instinct, but is soon snapped to reality. He pulls away from her and pries her fingers from the front of his shirt. She smiles and turns on her side, putting her arm under the pillow.

Shalnark quietly walks away, mind in millions of places at once and not one cohesive thought other than 'go to sleep and pretend this never happened'. _She's drunk as a Raccoon-Skunk, and asleep. She won't even know what games we played tonight._ He lay in Koharu's room that was now technically his. He waits for the alcohol to finally take him off to sleep. _I can't believe I kissed her. Damn that guy; put the idea in my mind, got her to drink till she passed out._ He smiles to himself and puts his arms behind his head. He takes a deep breath, ready to fall asleep. _At least it was nice…_

 **A/N: I want you all to know that Lula is based off out dearest Scorpio from homestuck. I got the idea from a fan made video because of the dice she used to turn into her ancestor and it was really cool, so I decided to have a character based off of her. So? How do you feel about the drunkscapade and that kiss huh? The honest truth, this is the first kiss I have ever written about. So, tell me what you think please!**

 **Have a good day/night my wonderful readers!**


	13. The Power Within

**A/N: Well, I stayed up so late to watch the election last night, that I decided to work on my story whilst waiting for the results. So, here is another chapter! It's pretty long and I can honestly say that I really enjoy this one. I even have a sketch of Akira during the later scene. I'll be putting them up soon on my DA account when I get a few more done. I hope that you all enjoy, please R &R.**

Chapter 12

 **The Power Within**

Akira wakes up with a massive hangover. Her arm hurts just as bad as it did the night before and her mouth was dry as a desert. She stands up slowly and shuffles into the kitchen. She proceeds to turn on the sink faucet and drink straight from the stream of water. She hears laughter behind her to see the blonde watching her from the couch. She frowns at him and he looks away, knowing that she is in a bad mood and very hung over.

"Killua and Gon came by. They went to sign up for fights and then said they would be hanging out in town." Shalnark informs her when she lays down on the couch, effectively evicting him from it. He sits in the armchair, looking as happy as he always does. "Are you going to sign up for another match any time soon?" She doesn't answer him but instead looks out the window.

Akira looks miserable. She closes her eyes and lays a hand over her cut on her arm. After a few moments, she stands and puts on her cloak, gloves, mask and boots. She still wears the black tank top and sweats from the pervious day. She notes that she smells like a brewery. "I'm going to visit a friend. Would you like to accompany me?" Shalnark stands and follows her out the door quietly.

People move out of her way as she walks; she noticed people move out of her way quicker when she wears the mask. Their loud noises make her headache worse. She makes it outside and walks a few streets down. She gets to a small flower shop. Akira walks in quietly and waits for the woman walking around to notice her. "Well, Akira. Fancy seeing you here." The woman has a smirk on her face but seems happy to see the suffering girl. "I need to see the healer. Is she still here?" The woman walks to the back room and returns, "She has not returned yet. Please, come upstairs. We can have tea and look at your arm while we wait."

The woman walks through the door and waits for Akira. Shalnark stays where he is. The woman looks out the door, "Well, let's go. You did come here with her didn't you?" He nods and follows them through the back room and up the stairs to the house part of the shop. Akira sits at the table, rests her arm on it and pulls off her mask. The woman hands her a coffee cup with dark tea. The woman hands Shalnark a cup too and sits down. She reaches her hand out to shake his, "Jade." He shakes her hand, "Shalnark"

"Akira and I go way back. I used to live on that fancy pants island of hers. Yena, the healer, used to live in the house of Nen but she and I left after the master passed away. Let's hear a little about yourself," The middle-aged woman smiles at him. "Well I am a student now. I travel around the known world with a few of my friends. Not much to say about myself…" Shalnark trails off.

"Oh look," Akira points out the window. Jade stands and looks out to see Yena walking into the shop. "Yena, come see who came to visit!" Jade calls down to her. "Is it the cute boy from the delivery company?" She calls as she walks up the stairs. A woman or about thirty with short brown hair walks in and sets bags down next to the door before turning to the table.

Yena frowns and points at Akira, "What do you think you are doing here?" She steps forward and grabs Akira by the collar of her cloak. Akira puts her hands in front of her face defensively. Jade and Shalnark stand, Jade takes hold of Yena's shoulders and Shalnark tries to diffuse the situation. "Let's all just calm down, whatever it is, we can talk about it right?" Yena gets pried from Akira and points at her while struggling against Jade's grasp. "I have nothing to say to that smug little brat!"

"Yena!" Jade exclaims. "That's fine." Akira stands and blood begins to drip down onto the floor. "Please excuse me." She starts walking to the stairs. She leans against the wall and pants heavily. Shalnark walks over and helps her stand straight. She looks over quickly and winks to him before holding her arm and making a sound of pain.

"Wait!" Yena yells worriedly to Akira. She rushes over and takes a look at the bleeding wound. "Go sit down. I'll take care of this, but then you have to leave." Akira does what she was told, making sure to look very pained about it. _You can act mad at me all you want. It was not my fault. I can act too._ She takes the bandages off the wound and sees a few stitches have popped. She puts a hand on either side of the wound and a fait green aura appears around her hands.

"Doctor's Hands!" The green aura grew brighter. She removes her hands and the green aura vanishes. "Done. Be gone." Yena picks up the bags from the door and goes farther into the house. Jade looks at Akira apologetically, "Sorry. She is still bitter." Akira stretches her arm to see that everything is all in order. "Yena really outdid herself. There is barely a scar. Thank you." Akira gives the woman a quick hug, puts back her mask and begins her descent down the stairs. Shalnark waves and follows.

Once the two made their way to the next street over, Shalnark decides to speak up, "What if she still refused you?" Akira laughs, "I know her well enough that if she saw me suffering, she would heal me. I'm actually really glad she grabbed my collar so I could make it look like I broke some of my stitches in the struggle. You helped too, by looking so worried." She laughs again. "This went great. We should go sign up for a match!"

She walks with purpose to the registry area. She waits for the woman to take notice, "I want to fight tonight." The woman looks to see who is available, "We have one fighter still available." Akira nods and the woman types away at the computer. "You sir?" Shalnark thinks for a second. "Is there anything for tomorrow night?" She types and replies, "Yes, we can get you a fight an hour after the match between Killua and Corion." Akira and Shalnark thank the woman and return to the room.

Akira finds her laptop from her room and sets it on the dining table. She looks at the website for Heaven's Arena. "They already updated this thing. I am fighting someone named Ximon. It looks like you are fighting Hamo De'Leon." She clicks the link for the descriptions of the fighters.

She reads the other fighters' information out loud, "Ximon, a man who lives for the future. Oh, there is a picture. He's bald and wears a trench coat. It says he is a specialist." She goes to Hamo De'Leon's page. "Hamo De'Leon, the lion man. He's got a scruffy beard and wild hair that makes him look like he has a lion's mane. He's an enhancer." She scrolls down. "It says he uses one ability called 'Kind of the Jungle'. He enhances his voice and then delivers a mighty roar, throwing his enemy off balance."

"I have yet to see you do any fighting, so I have no idea how to advise you." She continues to read. "However, from the information, I can say that you should perhaps look into ear plugs. He is an enhancer, so I would say that perhaps you should bring a weapon." She walks to her room and opens the closet. She pulls out a few different kinds of swords, a large hammer, a blunt mace and pistol. She comes back with the weapons in her arms. "You can have one of mine if you want."

She watches as he looks at each weapon. "Oh, I have something that might work!" She goes back to the room and digs through the dresser. She pulls out gloves, much like her own. The gloves were black and fingerless but the titanium plating was much thicker and had titanium buttons on the knuckles. She set them down on the table gently. "These were my training gloves. You can use them for the fights."

Shalnark tries them on. "They are sort of heavy, so you should wear them until the fight to get used to them ok?" He nods and throws a punch in the air to test them out a bit. Akira puts the rest of her weapons away and hears knocking at the door. She answers the door to find Gon and Killua. "Akira, how are you feeling? Is your arm doing better?" She holds out her arm for Gon to see. "Shalnark and I went to get it healed. That's way I can fight tonight."

"I get to fight today too!" Gon happily exclaims. "I was actually going to ask how I should go about this." Akira thinks. "Mauro is an enhancer right?" Gon nods. "Then just do your best to be stronger than him. Give your Nen punches extra power and just try to land as many hits as you can." Gon Nods. "Killua, you're fighting the Cyborg, Corion right?"

"Yes. I read that he is an emitter, but I already know what I will be doing. I plan to have a very short fight," He sounds very confident in himself. "Alright. Good luck to you both. I will leave all of the fights up to you. Participate in three each. Whoever wins the most gets to go against me here. Should you all win three, I will fight one here and the rest back at the house of Nen. I did promise Killua a fight here… So maybe we can do that. You better try to win them all Killua."

"Killua and I just wanted to ask some advice. Thank you Akira," He grabs Killua by the wrist and walks out the door with him in tow, muttering something about training. "I have a feeling that my fight today is going to be easy," She sits on the couch and turns on the TV. "Maybe I'll take a nap." She lays on the couch and closes her eyes.

Shalnark decides that is a pretty good idea and sits in the armchair. He looks at Akira. She looks very much the same as the night before. The scowl is gone from her face and she looks rather peaceful. He smiles at the thought of the night before. He is lost in thought while he looks at her in her most peaceful state, he does not notice her eyes open.

"Some specific reason you are looking at me?" His cheeks turn pink and he looks away abruptly. "I just thought you looked really peaceful. Sorry." Akira rolls her eyes and turns to face the back of the couch. Shalnark looks back over to Akira. _I don't know what it is about you. You can't help but hypnotize everyone you meet with your magnificence._ She looks over her shoulder quickly and catches him looking once again. She does not tease him, but instead giggles a bit and goes back to trying to sleep.

* * *

Knocking at the door awakes Akira. She lazily gets up and walks over, rubbing her eyes. She yawns and opens the door, leaning on the frame. "Akira, I'm going to be fighting Mauro the Wolf Man in one hour. I came by because I wanted to ask something. If silver is bad for werewolves, do you think silver might mess with his Nen?" Gon talks a mile a minute and Akira barely keeps up.

Killua notices that Akira has just woken up and pats Gon on the shoulder to make him stop talking. "While Gon and I were out, we watched a movie where they killed a werewolf with silver. A lot of people have Vows and Limitations, so I jokingly told him 'what is Mauro is affected by silver'. Gon is convinced that silver will weaken him. Do you think it is possible?"

Akira yawns again. "I think that it is a possibility. Did you come here to ask for silver?" They both nod enthusiastically. "Fine. Come sit down while I see if I have any coins or something." She holds the door open farther for them then goes to her room to rummage through her belongings. She picks up nail polish. "With real silver flakes," she reads off the sticker.

She walks in to see the boys doodling on Shalnark's sleeping face. She crosses her arms and scowls at them. They both mutter a sorry to her. "Are you going to be using any weapons?" He nods, "I'm going to be using my fishing pole." She tosses him the nail polish. Gon and Killua look at the bottle. It's clear coat with flakes of real silver in it. "Paint that on whatever part will make contact with him."

"Thank you Akira! Are you going to watch the fight?" Gon asks. She shakes her head, "If I see it on the TV, but I want to fight everyone without any advantage. I hope to fight most of the other competitors here. Do tell me how it goes ok? Oh, and please bring back that polish after if there is any left." She walks with them to the hallway. "Good luck." She waves to them as they run down the hall.

She walks back inside and picks up the pen they boys were using to draw on Shalnark's face. She has to laugh at the very realistic mustache they had given him. They drew the word 'Spider' on his forehead with little spiders around it. She laughs and walks into the kitchen. She gets a rag and wets it in the sink. "Hey," she calls from the kitchen. She hears a yawn from the living room. She walks back with the wet rag and hands it to him, "Very realistic mustache."

Shalnark gives her a look like she's insane as he reaches up and makes sure that he isn't the one whom is insane. "Look at the detail!" She exclaims. He does not move but instead continues to stare at her with wide eyes. "They drew on your face." He breathes a sigh of relief before realizing what she said and jumps up and runs over to the mirror in the bathroom. "Oh, they really did a good job." Akira laughs at his comment.

Shalnark comes back after a few moments. He sits down, "at least they used regular pen rather than a permanent one." Akira nods. "They came by to get silver. They want to use it on Mauro the Wolf Man."

* * *

"Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen! We have a fighter who has returned to the Arena after many years! Did he return for the fame or the thrill of the fight? We see him in action tonight against Mauro The Wolf Man! Please welcome combatant, Gon!" Gon walks up to the square arena. Mauro is there waiting already.

Mauro wears a red flannel shirt and ripped jeans. His hair is messy and he has lots of body hair. He gives a howl and flexes his muscles. The crowd seems to like the show he is putting on. Gon holds out his fishing rod, ready to fight. "Points and K.O. System! Fight!"

Mauro gives another howl as he lets his aura explode around him. "His mighty howl strikes fear in his opponents!" He charges Gon and swipes at him with claws made of Nen. Gon jumps back just in time but still has to keep dodging each swipe. "Mauro swipes at Gon! He keeps swiping, leaving no opening for Gon!" _That's not really true…_ Gon spots several opening with each swipe of Mauro's Nen claws.

Gon jumps back and waits for Mauro to swing again. He slides underneath the tall man, jumps a few feet off the ground, spins to deliver a harsh kick to the back of Mauro's head. " Gon sees an opening to attack Mauro! A kick to the back of the head! That has got to hurt!" Mauro lays on the ground for a few seconds. "Critical hit! Knockdown! Three points!" Mauro gets up slowly and faces Gon.

He charges Gon to swipe at him again. Gon's fishing lure comes from the side and knocks him on the cheek. "Gon's fishing lure hits Mauro on the cheek!" Mauro puts a hand up to his cheek. "Clean hit! One point!" Mauro's eyes widen. He looks at his hands. "Who told you about the silver?" He looks at Gon with anger in his eyes. "I saw a movie today and my friend thought of it," Gon tells him. "Damn you! I will make you pay!" Mauro charges.

Gon jumps up and kicks him again from behind. "Clean hit! One point!" Gon lands softly. "Gon lands another hit on Mauro! Mauro is no longer using his werewolf claws! What could be the cause?" Gon swings his fishing rod above his head before launching the lure at Mauro again, wrapping the line around his ankles and bringing him to the ground. "Gon wraps his fishing line around Mauro's legs! Dirty trick!"

"Knockdown! One point!" Mauro untangles his legs and stands, only for him to see the bottom on Gon's boot heading straight for his face. "Mauro untangles himself but is it too late?" He does not bother to block or evade, knowing the fight is over for him. Gon lands the kick square on the bridge of Mauro's nose.

The Wolf Man falls. "Critical Hit! Knockdown! Three points! Gon wins!" The ref gestures to Gon. "Gon wins with a kick directly to Mauro's face!" Gon smiles and gives a thumbs up to Killua, whom sits near the front. "A good win for Gon's first fight back! Who will his next opponent be? Keep your eyes open for the next opportunity to see him fight! Stick around to see The Master of Nen fight Ximon, Man of the future one hour from now!"

* * *

Akira holds her cell phone to her ear with her shoulder as she works on a new weapon. "No, I didn't get to see. I was busy. No! Get your mind out of the gutter! I'm working on a new weapon. You saw my match right? Well I decided that I need knives or something because a lot of the normal people were wondering how I cut Lula's arm. I got this great idea to make fake nails. I'm sharpening one right now. It's about two inches long and an alloy of Silver and Titanium."

Akira holds out the nail in front of her face and inspects the sharpness. "Why silver? Just a hunch about a fight in the future. How are the boys other than their fights? Gon and Killua go out a lot. They went to the movies earlier today. Shalnark came with me to see Yena." Akira holds the phone away from her ear as the voice on the phone screams, "Yena? Where did you see her? You have to tell me everything!"

"I'll tell you when I get back. I really am busy. Cute boys? Well.." Akira coughs and her cheeks heat up. "You could say that I have been in contact with a cute boy recently…" She moves the phone away to spare her ear from the girly squeal on the line. "Settle down please. Every time you get loud I have to stop my work and hold the phone away from my ear."

Akira looks to see Shalnark watching her, "Something interesting?" He shakes his head and keeps his smile. "No, not you. Someone else. Look, I'm really busy. What did you even call me for? That? You called me for that? I'll wire some money over but I will not tell you where my cards are. Why are you out of cash anyways? You didn't… but why?" She yells the last part.

"I will not be wiring you money. Learn to spend on other things than alcohol. How are Kurapika, Leorio and Zushi? Good. If you get really bored, why don't you just take them on a job with you? Please tell Kurse that I may be staying a bit longer than expected ok? I still have to get in contact with the agency and I hope to do some more work here before I leave." She thinks for a second. "How about this: be here next week with Kurapika, Leorio, Zushi and Wing. Book… three rooms, the ones with two queen beds, at the nicest hotel you want."

"You could get one by the beach. I'll pay for whatever one you want, but you gotta do some work while you are here. Yep. You heard me. You get to tell me everything I want and you have to tell me how the last fight will go. Well… if you don't want to… Ok. That's what I thought. See you next week Koharu." She hangs up and gets back to work on her silver-titanium fake nails.

"Damn girl spend money on a 'limited edition' alcohol." Akira snorts and sharpens the nails a bit more roughly. "With any luck, I'll be able to wear them to my fight. Can you go get me the glue from over the sink in the cabinet?" Shalnark gets up and brings her the glue. She carefully puts a glob on each nail and sticks the metal ones on top. She puts on just enough that they will stay on during a fight but come off easily with a bit of solvent.

She holds out her hand to inspect the nails. "I like them. I hope they work like I want. I'm going to try to fight Mauro at one point while we are here." She looks at the time. "Looks like I'm on in fifteen minutes. I better get going." She stands and gives each of her metal nails a tug. She walks over to put on her combat boots. She slips them on then looks at the laces. _Well fuck me. I did not think this through one bit._

She looks down at her boots for a second and sighs. She sits down and attempts to tie them, getting more frustrated as the laces do not listen to her. "Can I help?" She looks up to see the smiling blonde. She nods and crosses her arms, very angry with her life choices currently. He ties the laces a bit tight, but she doesn't mine too much. He holds out his hand for her to take. He helps her put on her cloak and helps her carefully slip on her sleek, innocent-looking, fingerless gloves. He takes her mask from off the table and had her hold it in place as he ties the ribbon on the back snugly.

"Thanks." She walks with him out the room and down the hall. They part ways at the end when she goes to the arena and he walks to the stadium seating area. Akira walks up to the arena when called up and stands waiting for her opponent. The bald man in a black trench coat walks quickly up to his spot. Akira could hear the announcer but did not bother to listen to what she had to say about the match.

Akira waits for the ref to tell her she can go ahead. As soon as she hears the words that mean 'go kick his ass', she leaps into action. She leaps full speed towards Ximon with her Naughty Kitty active. Just before her claws reach him, he vanishes right before her eyes. She has to change her momentum quickly to keep herself from flying out of the ring. She moves to turn around but feels an ache in the back of her head as the floor get closer to her.

Akira gets up slowly and looks around. _That bastard just hit me in the back of the head. He will pay for that._ She steadies herself and locates her target. She feigns going for the same attack and waits for him to vanish. Just as he vanishes, she ducks and brings her foot up from behind to land a kick on Ximon's chin. He stumbles backwards and Akira uppercuts him with the titanium plated gloves. He falls. She stands over him menacingly.

Akira bends over and puts her claws up to his neck. "Forfeit," she demands. Tears roll down Ximon's cheeks. She steps away from him and he forfeits. "I knew this fight would be easy. I can't believe he landed a hit on me though." She reaches up and feels the back of her head. She's relieved to know that there is no blood but notes that it hurts like hell.

Akira walks to her room and tries to open to door, her nails making it a bit hard. She finally succeeds and goes to take off the metal nails. She sprays the solvent on the sides and waits for it to dissolve the glue. "Akira?" Gon's voice comes from the living room. "Shalnark let us in, Killua wanted to ask about Ximon." She tugs off one of the nails gently. "I'll be there in a moment, I have to take off my metal nails."

She goes to the living room and sits on the couch between Killua and Gon. "That damn guy actually hit me." The three boys laugh. "He teleported behind you. He knew that you had no idea what he could do so he used it to his advantage," Shalnark explains. Killua crosses his arms, "I thought you were going to beat him up. Making him forfeit was weak." Akira turns towards Killua, anger filling her eyes, "Shall I beat you up then since I didn't get to give him a beating?" He quickly shakes his head, hoping to avoid her wrath.

"Now, now, let's not fight. To each his own way of fighting. Akira said she thought the fight would be easy and it was," He looks at Akira, "Right?" she nods. "I didn't want to waste my energy on him. He was a coward." She crosses her arms, "I'm going to sign up the day after tomorrow. I'm thinking I need to make a little trip tomorrow. Would you guys be joining me?"

"Just as long as we get back in time for Killua's fight," Gon smiles, "What are we going to do?" Akira gets up and walks to her room, she returns with a printed out page. "I got in contact with my agency and I have a possible lead on a group of criminals. I was told that I didn't even need to take them in, 'just slaughter them all' the man said. We both had a laugh after that."

"I think Killua and I will just stay and train…" Gon trails off, obviously nervous about killing people. "Not to fond of slaughter?" He shakes his head. "Oh well, Shalnark?" The blonde has on his usual innocent smile, "Absolutely!" He's cheerful as always. "Being in the Troupe, you're used to just killing all the time huh?" He nods.

"Well, that's that. Gon, congratulations on your fight. You can take the wine from the fridge as a celebratory drink. You already drank straight out of it so it's pretty much yours." She waits for him to go get the wine. "We are going to go out to eat and then go back to the room; do you need anything?" Akira shakes her head. "Oh! Here is the polish back. It worked perfectly." He hands her the bottle of nail polish. "Thank you for letting me use it." She nods, "No problem. This means my metal nails will work too."

Gon and Killua leave for their dinner plans. Akira stands outside the door and waves to them as they leave. "Good luck tomorrow Killua!" She walks back in and pulls out her laptop. "The man on the phone said that the group just popped up and they are causing a lot of trouble. Unusual orders though. Usually they want me to apprehend the criminals. Not that I am complaining; I do like killing people too."

* * *

Akira walks the streets early in the morning with Shalnark beside her. She wears a large black hoodie, sweats, her gloves and combat boots. She wears the hood of the hoodie so that she might have some sort of means of hiding her identity. Shalnark wears a regular black tank top with jeans and Akira's heavy training gloves to get used to them. His hair is styled differently to change up his appearance as well. He styled it much like the way it looks when he sticks himself with the antennae and goes on autopilot.

They make it to a little coffee shop. They sit outside at one of the little tables and wait for their coffee and food to be served. "What is the Phantom Troupe like?" She asks, holding her coffee in both hands to keep them warm. "Well, we are sort of like a big family. We haven't seen our Boss in a while, but we are still looking for an exorcist for him." _Exorcist? Was creepy guy working with Shalnark?_ "We went looking for one in this game called 'Greed Island' but we had some trouble with that."

"Most of the other members are looking fro replacements for a few of our fallen comrades. I was supposed to be doing that too." _Supposed to be doing that too? Were you looking for replacements at the House of Nen? Trying to steal my students huh?_ "Your Boss, what is he like?" She takes a long sip of her coffee. Shalnark looks into her eyes. _You're asking for a reason. What is it you really want to know?_

"He cares for us. He's rather nice. We would do anything for him." She nods. "Gon and Killua know him? They seem to have a dislike for you all." She raises an eyebrow. "A few years ago they caused us a bit of trouble, so we captured them. One of our members really wanted them to join." _Why so many questions all of the sudden? You're up to something._

"Do you work with anyone who had black hair and a bandage around his forehead?" Shalnark's eyes widen. "This really odd man asked me about an exorcist. He must be working with you right?" He smiles a gleeful smile. "Seems to me like you met the Boss. Do you think he is still in the city?" Akira shrugs.

She finishes her coffee and unwarps her muffin. "If I see him again, should I tell him you are here?" Shalnark shakes his head, "No, he probably already knows." Akira nods. "Alright. From what I have been told, their base camp is down the street. It's an old storage place. Since you and I are both hunters, we could just burn the whole place down and claim it for a good cause right?" He nods.

"Alright. Let's go burn down this place." She stands and starts walking down the street. She gets to a large gate. It reads, 'Pearl Space: Storage your way'. The gate was about eight feet tall and made of steel. "I'm going to jump over. If I don't come back in ten minutes, come in after me." She takes a few steps back and runs towards the fence. She jumps up and lands on top of it. She crouches down and looks around. "This place looks empty."

She jumps down, her feet making no noise when they touch the ground. She takes off, running into the nearest building. Shalnark looks at his phone and notes the time to be seven thirty-three. He looks around to see that this is not exactly the best part of town. He leans against the gate and crosses his arms.

Three shady figures stand across the street and watch him intently. He smiles happily at them and they walks a bit closer. They seem to be debating something among themselves quietly. One of them walks over and stands a few feet from Shalnark. He has his hands in his pockets and looks a bit angry. "You're a bit suspicious standing here by Pearl Space. You have some reason you are here?" The blonde shakes his head, still smiling very innocently.

"Get lost." Shalnark shakes his head again, "I can't." The man shuffles his pocket, most likely grabbing hold of whatever weapon is inside. "Why not?" He shrugs his shoulders. The man pulls out a gun and points it at Shalnark's chest. "Get lost," He demands again.

Shalnark reaches into his pocket and pulls out one of his bat-like antennas. He throws it and it embeds itself into the man's neck. He pulls out his phone and gives the order 'shoot your friends'. The shady man turns around and points his gun at his two buddies across the street.

Bang. The one on the left falls. The other puts up his hands, "Please man! We have been friends for years! Don't shoot!" Bang. He drops to the ground screaming in pain. Shalnark pushes some more buttons on his phone. The man walks over to his fallen friend and points the gun to his head. The wounded man has tears flowing down his cheeks as he wails about past friendships. Bang. His eyes are lifeless as his head falls into the pool of blood.

Shalnark orders the man to come back and he takes the antenna from the mans neck. The man looks around, quite confused about what has been happening. He looks at Shalnark only to see titanium knuckles coming his way. The man falls to the ground unconscious, perhaps even dead. Shalnark looks at the time. "Your ten minutes are up. I see no flames. Better do as she said." Shalnark hops over the fence much like Akira did. He walks to the building she disappeared into.

He walks down the dark hallway of the building when he hears a blood-curdling scream. _Akira._ He picks up the pace a bit, trying to find where the scream came from. Another scream then crushing aura full of bloodlust fills the halls. _Certainly more frightening than Boss._ He steps through a door to see what has Akira all riled up.

Three tall men with fire resistant suits similar to those a fireman would use have her held down on the ground. They have lots of trouble doing so; the two men holding her arms strain visibly and the man attempting to hold her legs gets a stray boot to the face every so often. A fourth man approaches with a large knife.

She sees him. He walks until he is standing over her, looking down at her, fantasizing about how he will use his knife. Shalnark holds up an antenna, ready to go for the man with the knife when he feels a dramatic change in the aura. Bloodlust no longer fills the air. The aura is no longer smothering either. She seems to have called back all of her aura and instead has it around her using Ren.

He sees a change in her eyes. The eyes that were once heartwarming, full of knowledge and power have turned to eyes of someone who has lost their soul. Someone who is no longer thinking things through and making choices. They were the eyes of a bloodthirsty animal or a hardened assassin, devoid of all emotion.

Her scowl slowly disappears and she is completely emotionless. The man with the knife slowly backs away from her, turns tail and runs as his friends stare at him with confusion. Akira delivers a kick to the man holding her legs, his head detaches from his body. The two men holding her arms look on in horror. She frees both her arms and grabs the collars of each man. She slowly stands up.

Those eyes devoid of emotion look straight at Shalnark. He no longer smiles but watches his new friend-gone-murderer intently. She throws one of the men to the ground and places a booted foot on his chest. She puts the man she still has by the collar and puts him in a headlock. She does not even strain as his head pops off and rolls a few feet away.

His body flops on the ground and sprays the man pinned to the ground with blood. The guy screams and tries to knock Akira off of him. She bends down and rips his jacket open to expose his neck. "Naughty Kitty," she utters quietly as purple aura explodes around her then swirls to its appropriate places.

She opens her mouth to show large fangs made of Nen. She takes a handful of his greasy hair and makes him get into a sitting position She stands, making him stand as well. He grips her shoulders as he pitifully begs for his life. His pleas are cut short as she sinks her fangs into his neck. He gurgles as blood drips from the corners of his mouth. Akira shakes her head like a dog would, tearing his throat apart. She drops him and looks up at Shalnark.

Blood covers her mouth and drips down her chin onto her chest. He now notices that her hoodie is gone and her shirt is ripped in several places. "Akira?" He calls to her, her eyes still devoid of any emotion. She takes a step towards him and vanishes. She reappears right before him in the air. She tackles him to the ground and pins his arms beside his head.

Blood mixed with saliva drips from her mouth and onto his chin and neck. "Akira!" He yells her name but she shows no signs she hears him. She lets go of his arms but stays where she is. She holds her hands up and her Nen claws curve and sharpen themselves into finer points.

He takes his chance and pushes her off of himself. He jumps up and backs away from her. She stands where she is and watches him carefully. _She isn't herself anymore. Those eyes are still lifeless. There must be some way to get her back to normal while trying to keep my life. Chance to land a hit and escape unscathed is less than two percent. I could stick her with an antenna. Chance of doing that and keeping my life? About ten percent. Damn._

Shalnark can't think of any sane way to escape this. He holds his arms at his sides with his palms facing Akira. He walks to her slowly. Once he is within five feet of her, he calls out to her again, "Akira?" Recognition flashes through her eyes but is gone the next second. He takes a few more steps towards her. She snarls like an animal and takes a step back.

He closes the space between them and wraps his arms around her. She is nearly his height, standing at five feet, eight inches. She opens her mouth and clamps down on his shoulder, growling and struggling against his grip. He reaches one of his hands up and runs his fingers through her hair. She slowly releases her jaw and leans into his hug. She rests her chin on the crook of his neck.

Akira takes a sudden and sharp intake of breath as she jumps back from his embrace. Her eyes have returned to normal and she looks around in wild confusion. She looks around at the three dead bodies and the blood that covers her front. She looks at Shalnark to see drops of blood on his face and a large bleeding bite mark on his shoulder. She brings her hand to her mouth as she looks around more. Tears fall down her cheeks.

"Did I do this?" It was just a whisper. "I let it control me again…" She points to Shalnark's shoulder, "did I do that too?" He looks away towards the ground. "Go stand out at the front gate please… I'm going to torch this place." Shalnark walks up to her and takes her in an embrace. "Let's just go back to the room. I have someone who can take care of this."

She sniffles and wipes her tears. "No. I'm being paid to burn this place." She moves away from him and conjures apple sized combusting balls of fire. She takes one and chucks it in a pile of rubble that looks flammable. She hands him a few and walks into some of the other rooms throwing them around.

They reach the gate, leaving burning buildings behind themselves. Akira jumps up to get over the fence, waiting for Shalnark on the other side. She walks slowly, stopping often to take a break. _She must be hurting. I get the same thing when I use autopilot. She's going to be hurting for a few days from what I can see._

He puts his arm around her as they walk to keep her steady. "I'm really sorry that I bit you." He shakes his head and squeezes her shoulder gently, "Don't worry so much about it. I'm still alive, so it isn't a problem." She looks down at the ground as she walks.

"Akira!" She turns her head to see Gon run over. "You are covered in blood! Are you alright? Should I call someone?" She shakes her head. "What happened?" She sighs, "Long story… I just need to go lie down right now. I should hurry before I can't make it there on my own. I can feel my muscles screaming for me to stop." She turns and walks to the to the room with Shalnark.

She ignores the screams from random people on the way and the pleas to call someone. She makes it to the room and flops down on the couch. "Well this morning has been shitty. At least I'm getting paid." She looks at the couch then at the blood all over. "At least the couch is a dark leather." She laughs and tries to make herself comfortable.

 **A/N: So? What did you think? I hope you like it! I'm going to try to update on Friday as well so that would be two chapters in one week! WOO! Look forward to more! Have a good day/night! Thank you for reading! You all make my day when I see someone has read my new chapters.**


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